Legacy of a Promise
by PhantomBlueRose
Summary: A modern day story detailing the effects of a loving father's final promise that resulted in unforeseen consequences. R/C
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer - I don't own the characters or the general idea of the story. They were originally created by Gaston Leroux and have been used by much more creative people than myself since then including Andrew Lloyd Weber, Ken Hill, and many others. I am not making any money from this story. I am merely borrowing the characters for awhile.

Author's note - This is my first attempt at fanfiction. Constructive criticism is welcome but no flames. This story is based off a random dream I had about a year ago that wouldn't go away until I decided to write it up. It is going to be R/C and it will be a mix of versions. ALW will probably dominate but others will be thrown in there and hopefully I'll manage to put in something of my own.

Chapter 1

"Christine." At the sound of the teacher's voice a small, curly haired brunette lifted her head.

"Yes, Madame Dufarge?" she replied.

"The main office just called cherie and they want you to go down there and bring your things with you."

Under the envious eyes of the other seven year olds who wished they were the ones leaving class, Christine slid her pencils and books into her backpack. She rose from her chair and grabbed her blue windbreaker from her locker as she left the classroom.

As Christine made her way through the empty hallway she wondered why she had been called from class.

"Maybe Papa is trying to surprise me!" she thought and she sped up hoping that when she reached the office her father would be there. She reached the office, pulled open its heavy wooden door and stopped when she saw the short, wiry, brunette woman waiting for her.

"Aunt Antoinette!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here?" Antoinette Giry knelt down to look Christine in the eye.

"It's your father Christine. He was at rehearsal and didn't feel well. Then during the middle of one of the pieces he, well, he fainted." Christine's normally fair face turned bone white.

"Is he okay?" Christine whispered.

"I don't know" Antoinette replied. "They took him to the hospital and I came to pick you up so you can go see him, all right?" Christine nodded her head and reached out to take Antoinette's hand. Antoinette stood up and looked at the secretary. "Do you need me to do anything else to take her?"

"No. Monsieur Daae has you listed as someone who can pick Christine up and you've already signed her out. You both can go," said the secretary. Antoinette nodded her thanks and led Christine out to where her car was parked. As she started the car, Antoinette looked over at the silent child sitting with hands clasped tightly together in the passenger seat.

"We'll be there in a few minutes Christine," she said reassuringly hoping for a response. Instead, Christine just nodded, looking out the window. Antoinette sighed and backed the car out of the parking spot.

Less than 15 minutes later Antoinette eased into a spot in the hospital parking lot. Christine was already out of the car, waiting by the driver's side door by the time Antoinette had removed her seatbelt and opened the door. She grasped Christine's hand and together they walked into the hospital and up to the nurse's desk.

"We're looking for Gustave Daae. Can you tell us where he is?" Antoinette asked.

"He's been moved to room 314. Are you family?" the nurse responded.

"This is his daughter and I'm a friend and co-worker. Can we see him now?" The nurse nodded.

"All right. Just take that hallway to the elevator and go up to third floor. 314 should be just a couple of doors to your left."

A few minutes later Christine and Antoinette entered into a small hospital room. It was a typical hospital room. White walls, hospital beds, and a TV mounted in the corner. One of the beds was empty, the blankets neatly folded in a pile at the foot of the bed. The other bed was occupied by a man in his mid-30s with wavy dark hair and soft brown eyes that lit up when they saw Christine.

"Angel!" he cried holding out his arms for his daughter.

"Papa!" Christine cried jumping onto the bed and giving her father a hug. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better now that you are here. How was school?"

"Good. Madame Dufarge liked the picture I drew."

"And what was the picture of Little Lotte from the stories you tell me. She was waiting for the Angel of Music to come and sing songs to her."

"You'll have to show me this wonderful picture soon. Maybe instead of being an opera singer when you grow up you'll become a famous artist!" Gustave teased.

"Of course not Papa! Because if I become an artist then the Angel of Music will have no need to visit me" explained Christine seriously.

"Well then," chucked Gustave. "I'll guess you'll just have to keep working hard then so that . . ." He trailed off as he noted the somber looking doctor standing in the doorway of the room.

"We've had a chance to look at some of your x-rays Monsieur Daae," he said while giving a meaningful look at Christine. Gustave took the hint.

"Christine why don't you go ask the nurses if they have any crayons and paper than you can use to draw me a picture of Little Lotte".

"All right Papa. I'll go and when I get back then I'll draw you the best picture ever. I promise." With this, Christine sped from the room in search of art supplies.

"It's bad," commented Gustave flatly. The doctor hesitated for a moment and then nodded.

"You have a tumor growing on your left lung and it's become attached to your heart Monsieur Daae. That resulted in pressure on both your lungs and your heart and that was why you passed out today."

"Is there anything you can do?" Gustave pleaded.

"Unfortunately, it seems from the x-rays it seems like the tumor is to entrenched in your heart tissue to make it inoperable. We'll do some more tests, but I'm pretty they will just confirm what we already suspect." The doctor paused. "I'm sorry."

"How long do I have left?"

"A month or two, maybe three." Gustave leaned his head back on the pillow and looked despairingly up at the ceiling.

"What am I going to do?" he whispered. He brought his gaze to bear on a pale Antoinette tears sparkling in her eyes. "Antoinette, what am I going to do? I don't have any family. I'm all Christine has. Who will take care of her?" His voice broke, "What will she do when I'm . . .dead."

Antoinette swallowed hard. "I am as close as any family. I am Christine's godmother and she and my Meg are as close as sisters. I will take care of her as I would Meg, and as I know you would care for my daughter if I were in your place."

"Thanks you," breathed Gustave. "Thank you". Antoinette smiled sadly at her friend walking to the bed and placing her hand on his right shoulder.

"But how are we going to tell Christine?" she asked.

"Tell me what?" Christine asked entering into the room.

"Christine!" exclaimed her father. "I, I didn't think you would be back so quickly. At this point the doctor decided to leave them alone.

"I'll be back later to discuss the rests of the tests with you. As well as what you can expect over the next couple of months," he told Gustave. Gustave nodded wearily as the doctor left the room.

"Just that . . . just that . . . just that they need to do some more tests and so I need to stay here for a few days." Gustave said, smiling weakly as Christine climbed back next to him on the hospital bed. She rested her head on his shoulder.

"Can I stay here with you then?" she asked hopefully as she wrapped her arms around her father. He gave her a tight hug and shook his head.

"No Angel. You'll stay with Aunt Antoinette and Meg tonight. And then tomorrow after school, you can come see me again."

"But why can't I come see you before school?"

"Because _I_ need to get my sleep. But how about you can call me when you are finished eating breakfast? Will that work?" Christine nodded her head. "Good girl. Now why don't you and Antoinette head home so that Meg isn't lonely, all right?"

"Okay Papa. And I'll call you as soon as I can tomorrow" promised Christine.

"I know you will" Gustave replied. As Antoinette and Christine were walking out of the doorway, he said, "I love you Angel." Christine grinned and ran back to the bed and gave him a fierce hug.

"I love you too Papa." Gustave watched them leave and when he was sure that they were gone, he laid back, closed his eyes and let the tears start to flow.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: See first chapter

Chapter 2

Within a week tests had confirmed the doctor's original diagnosis – the tumor was too entrenched in Gustave's heart and lung for it to be removed surgically. Even treatments such as radiation and chemotherapy would only extend his life by a few weeks. Wanting to spare his daughter as much as possible Gustave decided to forgo treatment and instead returned to the small apartment he shared with Christine.

While Christine was at school Gustave spent his time trying to get his affairs in order. He worried constantly about Christine's welfare once he was gone. He knew that Antoinette would care for her as she did her own daughter but Antoinette was just the ballet mistress at the Opera Populaire and while it provided a steady income it wasn't not a large income and Gustave felt guilty giving her another burden. He had some savings set by from his earnings as the principal violin at the Opera Populaire as he and Christine had never needed many material possessions. And he had a small life insurance that he had taken out after his wife had died from heart failure when Christine was just two years old. He would not be leaving his beloved daughter destitute, but still he worried.

What worried him most was how Christine would react to losing him. They were each other's whole world. She had been the only thing that had kept him going after his wife's death and they had developed a close bond as a result. They were more than just a father and daughter: they were friends. Gustave didn't know what Christine would do without him. So he tried to give her many happy memories to look back upon. After school and on weekends, he would create fun activities for them to do whether it was seeing the sights around Paris or watching rehearsals backstage at the opera house. And at night Gustave and Christine would lie on her bed after he tucked her in and he would tell her stories. Some stories were ones he from his childhood in Sweden and others were ones he would make up for the occasion, usually featuring a beautiful princess named Christine of course. But whenever he let her choose a story, Christine always asked for one about the Angel of Music. And it was shortly after the start of summer that these stories that gave Gustave an idea about how to break the news of his death and how to comfort his little angel.

"Christine, remember how I was in the hospital a few weeks ago?" he asked one night.

"Yes Papa," she replied snuggling closer to him.

"Well, the doctors weren't able to fix what made me sick and . . . ."

"Then how did you get better?" Christine interrupted.

"I didn't get better Angel. And, well, I'm not going to get better. And someday soon when I get too sick the angels are going to come and take me to live with your mommy in Heaven." Gustave told her, reaching out to stroke her hair,

"Is she going to take me too?" Christine asked, tears starting to form as she realized what her father was saying.

"No sweetheart. Only people who are sick get taken to heaven."

"But . . .but . . . . but I don't want you to leave Papa!" Christine cried.

"I know. I know Christine. I don't want to leave. But it is going to happen. But I promise you, that you are never going to be alone. You are going to go live with your aunt Antoinette and Meg and be part of a new family with them. And I am always going to watch over you. Remember how the Angel of Music always looked after Little Lotte?"

"Yes Papa," Christine whispered.

"Well, I am going to send you your very own Angel of Music. So anytime you are scared or alone, you just have to think of me and sing a song like we do now and the Angel of Music will be there to protect you and be with you. But remember, the Angel of Music can't be seen. But just because you can't see him doesn't mean he's not there. Because any time you hear a violin play, or remember a song we sang together or anytime you sing it will be the Angel of Music reminding you that he is there taking care of you and reminding you how very much I love you. Okay Angel". Christine nodded.

"When are the angels going to take you away Papa?" she asked. Gustave hesitated for a moment before replying,

"Soon sweetheart. Very soon. But until then you and I are going to spend a lot of time together and have lots of fun. So that you can always remember how much fun we had. But now it's time for you to go to sleep so that you are ready for all of our fun plans tomorrow."

"Sing for me Papa, please?" Christine begged. Gustave nodded and started softly singing a lullaby that his wife had sung to Christine and that he had continued to use after her death. He mentally made a note to teach it to Antoinette so that Christine could have one familiar comfort after his death. Shortly he felt Christine's body relax as she drifted into sleep. He eased himself out of her bed and started to head towards his own room. When he reached the door he stopped and turned to watch Christine sleep, her bed illuminated by the moonlight streaming in through her window. Tears welled in his eyes as he realized how soon he had to leave this wonderful little girl and he prayed (as he did many times a day) that his little girl would be taken care of and that she would find happiness and love even without him to guide and guard her.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer - I don't own the characters, the basic idea for the plot. I am just using them for my enjoyment and (hopefully) the enjoyment of others.

Author's note – I know this is kind of a slow start to a fic, but this will (hopefully) set the stage for some angst and drama soon. I think 2-3 more chapters as part of the back-story and then on to the more dramatic part.

Chapter 3

Just over two months after his first collapse, Gustave Daae was admitted to the hospital. His health had been deteriorating and it finally reached a point where, despite Antoinette Giry's help, he couldn't continue to take care of Christine. The doctors did all that they could but Gustave knew that the end was coming sooner rather than later. Every day it became harder and harder to find the energy to just stay alive. The only thing that made him continue to fight was Christine.

He could see how hard it was on her. Since it was still summer she didn't have school to distract her or prevent her from spending time at the hospital with him. So every day Antoinette would drop Christine off before heading to the Opera Populaire to either start work with the corps de ballet or give classes to children that the opera house sponsored as both a good will gesture and a way nurture promising dancers. Christine would spend the day laying next to her papa on the bed listening to stories or drawing pictures to brighten up the dull hospital room. Even at 7 she tried to be brave for Gustave, never telling him that she was scared. But he could see it in her eyes every time she left the room. She was scared that when she left her father would leave her alone.

So Gustave continued to fight but three weeks after being admitted, he could no longer fight hard enough. The tumor was pressing against his lungs and heart making it hard for him to breathe and for his body to move his blood. Looking at his daughter, Gustave wished he wasn't so selfish as to want her with him as he died. But he knew that she was taking this hard. His seven year old angel was extremely pale, a fact that was accentuated by her dark blue t-shirt and dark brown curls. She was trying to hold back the tears that were filling her dark blue eyes. Gustave knew that being here was a burden that she should not have to bear, but he couldn't find the strength to send his Angel away. As he met the gaze of Antoinette Giry standing behind Christine he saw the she understood why he needed Christine. Antoinette reached over and placed a hand on Christine's back as she lay next to Gustave silently promising that she would help Christine through this. Gustave took a deep breath.

"Christine," he rasped. "I want you to remember that I love you so much and that no matter you will never be alone. Remember my promise?"

"I remember Papa" Christine whispered burying her head in her father's shoulder. Gustave gently kissed the top of her head. He closed his eyes as if trying to marshal his strength but they never opened. For a few more minutes his chest rose and fell. Each breath coming farther and farther apart. Then, finally, with a small sigh all movement from Gustave Daae ceased.

Shortly afterwards a doctor came in having been called by the nurses when the readings from Gustave's monitors showed no signs of life. He looked sadly at Antoinette.

"I'm sorry but he's gone" the doctor said. Antoinette nodded. She looked at the child silently sobbing in the bed. She reached over and started stroking Christine's hair.

"I know Christine. I know," she murmured. Antoinette then reached over and lifted Christine off the bed and into her arms. "I know it hurts Christine. But we'll get through this together, I promise".

Turning to the doctor she asked while fighting back tears, "Gustave said he had already made the, the arrangements. Do you know anything about that?"

"Yes Madame Giry. Monsieur Daae left instruction as to what was to happen. We'll take care of our part," the doctor promised.

Still holding Christine in her arms, Antoinette said, "Thank you." Turning she started walking out the door. Christine raised her tear-streaked face to her Aunt Antoinette.

"What happens now?"

"We go home and we have some dinner and we cry and we go to bed because today has been a hard day and tomorrow will be a hard day too. But we are going to get through it together, won't we?" Christine nodded tiredly. Antoinette lowered her to the ground and took Christine's hand. Together they walked out into the hot dry summer day and to Antoinette's car. When they arrived at the apartment Christine quickly went to the room she had been sharing with Meg since her father had been admitted to the hospital weeks earlier. As she collapsed on her bed she heard Antoinette thank one the neighbor who had watched Meg while they had been at the hospital.

A few minutes passed and Meg crept into the room. She bent her golden head toward Christine.

"I'm sorry about your father Christine," she said.

"I know," Christine replied in a voice choked with tears.

"Can I do anything to help?" Meg asked. Christine shook her head.

"I just want to be alone." The door opened and Antoinette filled the doorway.

"Meg come help me with dinner please," she requested. Meg leaned over, gave her friend a hug and then followed her mother out to the kitchen. Christine lay on the bed wanting nothing in the world more than she wanted her papa to come in and tell her a story. The tears started to flow, cascading down her cheeks. Eventually the tear ceased as Christine slipped into a deep, dreamless sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's note – Sorry about the delay in the update process. Between work and classes I think the universe is trying to kill me. Things should calm down in the next few weeks so hopefully I will update more frequently then. Thanks to everyone who is actually reading this._

_Disclaimer – I don't own any of the characters, basic plot or the lyrics used that obviously came from the Andrew Lloyd Weber musical. This is just for fun and I'm not making any money off of it._

Chapter 4

The day of the funeral was sunny and humid. During the funeral service people tried to fan themselves using the printed hymns used for the church service. On either side of the plain oak casket were large arrangements of black vanilla orchids. These orchids were official flower of Jämtland county, the county in Sweden where Gustave had lived until moving to France to study music. The vanilla scent was cloying in the heat and most people yearned to be out in the open air or at least to have something akin to a breeze in the small Lutheran church near Perros-Guirec.

For over an hour Gustave Daae's friends and colleagues tried to honor him. They read Bible verses, shared a piece of music of in the case of Antoinette Giry gave a heartfelt eulogy. Though it all Gustave's daughter stood or sat as the circumstances demanded. Dressed in a plain black skirt and cardigan with her curls pulled back in a low ponytail her skin seemed bloodless. Her expression was distant as though she was viewing the events on a movie screen rather than experiencing them herself. Beside her in a similar outfit stood Meg Giry, grasping Christine's hand. Meg alternated between trying to pay attention to the service and casting worried glances at Christine. Even at 6 years of age Meg knew that Christine's actions weren't healthy, even if she wasn't able to express the thought herself. So she contented herself with being by her friend and hoping that everything would be okay again soon.

Finally the service was concluded. The pallbearers carried the casket out to the waiting hearse, which then drove to the local graveyard. Gustave had expressed the desire to be buried at Perros-Guirec because it had been where his wife had grown up, where they had met and after her death where he would take Christine on vacation. There Gustave Daae was buried in a simple ceremony. His tombstone was plain – just a plain granite slab with his name, dates of birth and death, a carving of a violin and the phrase "Beloved Father". Compared to some of the older and larger monuments in the graveyard it seemed small and insignificant but it also suited the simple man that Gustave Daae had been.

After the burial ceremony Antoinette stood talking to colleagues until she felt a tug at her dress. She looked down to see her daughter standing next to her.

"Mama," Meg whispered. "Christine ran off."

"Ran off?" Antoinette started looking around trying to find a small, dark, curly head. "Which direction did she go?" Silently Meg pointed towards a large mausoleum near a copse of trees at the edge of the graveyard. With quiet instructions to stay there, Antoinette hurried off in that direction. As she neared the mausoleum she began to hear sobs and as she round the back corner she found Christine sitting on the ground, knees drawn up to her chest, in tears. Getting down on the ground she drew Christine into an embrace and mentally thanking Gustave for teaching this to her, she began to sing.

_Wandering Child, so lost so helpless_

_Yearning for my guidance._

_Too long you've wandered in winter_

_Far from my far-reaching gaze._

_But now you've returned and I'll protect you,_

Now and always 

As Antoinette sang she felt Christine's sobs start to decrease and by the end of the short lullaby they had ceased leaving tearstains down Christine's alabaster cheeks.

"You know Papa's lullaby," she said wonderingly looking up into Antoinette's face.

"Of course I know it," Antoinette replied. "Your father taught it to me so that I could still sing it to you for him." She paused trying to determine how to express what she wanted to say. "You're not alone Christine. You have Meg and I and I know we are not your father and we can't take his place. But we are always here for you. You don't need to try and be strong. That's my job. You just need to feel what you feel and know that it is okay to be sad. It is okay to miss your father. But you don't need to do it alone. Meg and I are here to help you. And if you do feel like you need to be alone, you just need to tell me so that I know where you are. I promised your Papa that I would protect you and I need you to help me do that. Okay?"

Christine nodded.

"Good girl," Antoinette said. "Now I want you to go back by Meg. I'll be along in a minute". Christine obediently got up and started back towards the group of mourners. After a moment Antoinette stood up and started brushing off her dress. She sighed. "All right, you can come out now."

A tall man dressed in a black suit slowly walked out from the cover of the trees. The shadows in the area only seemed to highlight the white half mask he wore on the right side of his face.

"Antoinette," he said coolly inclining his head towards her.

"What in the world are you doing here?" she asked impatiently.

"I'm merely paying my respects. Gustave was an exceptionally talented musician," the man replied mildly.

"Talented men have died before and that hasn't been enough to drag you out of Paris" Antoinette retorted sharply. As realization struck she drew in her breath. "It's Christine isn't it?" At the man's silence she knew she was right. "Stay away from her Erik. I mean it. She's just a child she doesn't need your mind games right now."

"Calm down Antoinette. I'm just concerned about a child whose is alone in the world now. I know better than most how that feels."

"She's not alone. She has me." Antoinette stated flatly.

"You're a poor substitute for a parent's love Antoinette as I should know" Erik snarled. Antoinette took a quick step back. After a moment she shook her head slowly.

"I made mistakes Erik and I regret that. But I won't let my guilt cloud my judgment. Just leave her alone and let her grieve."

"Go back to your ward Antoinette," Erik ordered. Antoinette glanced over her shoulder hoping no one noticed that she wasn't alone. By the time she had turned back Erik had melted back into the shadows.

"Damn you Erik" she muttered as she started walking back towards the mourners. As she reached Christine and Meg she noticed another person walking towards them – Raoul de Changy. Raoul de Changy was a boy of 12 years and the only child of the Comte and Comtesse de Changy. He was tall for his age and a head of shaggy pale blond hair. He and Christine had met when Gustave first started taking her to Perros-Guirec. His family had an estate near there and one time as he was walking on the beach he had seen Christine's red scarf blow into the ocean. He had dived in (much to the dismay of his mother) to fetch it. That act of kindness had sparked a friendship that had continued with each visit despite the five-year difference in ages.

As he approached, Raoul's brown eyes were focused on Christine. As she met his gaze he gave a small smile.

"Hi Christine," he said. Upon recognizing him Christine gave her first genuine smile since her father's death and flung her arms around Raoul.

"I'm so glad to see you Raoul!" she cried. Raoul returned the hug.

"I'm glad to see you too." He paused awkwardly. "I'm sorry I didn't write like I promised last summer but boarding school was more work than I thought."

"It's okay," Christine assured him. "I'm just glad you're here". She pulled back a little to look Raoul in the face. "Papa would have been happy to see you too."

"I know. I'm going to miss him." Raoul replied. Christine gave him a sad smile.

"Me too." The two friends stayed together for a few minutes as the other people around them talked. Then Raoul noticed his father waiting for him near the car. Gently he disentangled himself.

"I have to go now Christine. But this I promise I'll write. Where are you staying now?" he asked.

"With Aunt Antoinette and Meg" Christine responded still grasping Raoul's hands. "Are you going to be at the opera soon?"

"I'll try to come the next time I'm with my parents in Paris" Raoul promised. With that he started walking towards his father. As he was getting ready to get into the car he turned and waved at Christine. Gently, Antoinette touched Christine on the shoulder.

"We should get going to Christine." Christine nodded and she and the Girys moved towards their car parked in the parking lot to begin the journey back to Paris.


	5. Chapter 5

_Disclaimer – I don't own anything and I'm certainly not making any money off of this._

_Author's note – Thanks to Angelicerik12 who is currently my only reviewer. Reviews are nice since it lets me know people are actually reading this. Finals start this week so hopefully updates will be more frequent soon. It will be a couple more chapters to set up the relationships and then we'll move into the main part of the story._

Chapter 5

Over the next few months Christine adjusted to life in the Giry household. She still grieved for her father and spent a lot of time by herself as she tried to deal with her loss. Since she shared a room with Meg she was uncomfortable letting herself be that vulnerable in front of her friend. While Meg also was without a father, Msr. Giry having walked out on Antoinette and Meg when Meg was just a few months old, she just didn't understand. She had never really had a father and while she sometimes wished for her father to come back, she really didn't have the experience to understand what Christine was going through.

As a result Christine found herself drawn more and more to the small chapel located in the Opera Populaire. A long-ago patron of the opera had donated the fund to add the chapel in the naïve hope that a chapel on the premises would lead to less _questionable_ behavior by the performers and crew. Needless to say his plan was less than successful. Now, over a century later the chapel was very rarely used. Occasionally someone might stop by to light a candle and pray for a good audition or performance. It was also used for meetings best left away from the eyes of the public. So this chapel became a sanctuary for Christine. A place where she could light a candle in memory of her father and finally be alone.

Luckily she had many opportunities to sneak away to the chapel. In order to keep Christine busy Antoinette had added her to the ballet classes she ran in the opera house. It was a way for her to earn a little extra money as well as start to develop promising dancers for the corps de ballet for the opera. Although at 40 Antoinette had only been running these classes for a little less than fifteen years she had managed to find nearly a dozen very promising students that were now starting to become well-known dancers – and more than a few had returned to their old teacher to work at the opera house. Antoinette taught a class three nights a week and while Meg and Christine only attended one class if Antoinette was unable to find a baby-sitter they would accompany Antoinette to the opera house and then do homework, practice their own dancing or even explore the opera house itself. Most nights Christine would sneak away from Meg and go to the chapel.

That is what happened one fall night about three months after Gustave had died. Christine left Meg watching rehearsal for the production of Mozart's Don Giovanni and snuck off to the chapel. Relieved to find it empty she quickly knelt before the small altar and lit a candle. She murmured a quick "Our Father" and then sat back on her heels and started staring up at the ceiling. All of a sudden all the grief and loneliness and angry welled up and she felt hot tears start to trickle down her face.

"Oh Papa," she whispered. "You promised me that you would send the Angel of Music and you didn't. And Aunt Antoinette tries hard but it just isn't the same and I miss you so much. I miss your stories, I miss your hugs, I miss _everything_. And I keep waiting for the Angel of Music to come. I've tried to be so good and wait patiently but it's hard! And the Angel of Music doesn't come and doesn't come and doesn't come. But you promised me . . . . you promised me . . . ." Completely overcome Christine started sobbing. She leaned forward so far that her face was nearly touching the stone floor of the chapel. Eventually she became aware of a male voice singing. It was a lower voice but very rich and compelling. Christine lifted her head and concentrated on the voice.

"_Wandering Child, so lost so helpless  
Yearning for my guidance.  
Too long you've wandered in winter  
Far from my far-reaching gaze.  
But now you've returned and I'll protect you,  
Now and always"_

"Who's there?" Christine stammered as her eyes frantically searched the room for the origin of the Voice. There was a pause as if the Voice was considering the best answer.

"I am someone who is here to watch over you," the Voice replied. Excitedly Christine got to her feet.

"You're the Angel of Music . . . just like Papa promised," she exclaimed. "I knew he wouldn't break his promise. Are you going to stay with me forever Angel?"

"I will stay with you as long as you need me Christine," the Voice promised. "But the ballet class is almost over and Antoinette will be looking for you soon so you should return. But don't worry, we'll talk again soon."

Christine's face was aglow with happiness at knowing that the Angel of Music had finally come to her. She rushed out of the chapel towards the dance studio. She watched impatiently from the doorway as Antoinette finished up. Antoinette noticed the impatience and once the last student had exited the room she made her way over to Christine. She opened her mouth to speak but Christine jumped in first.

"Aunt Antoinette, it finally happened! The Angel of Music finally came! Just like Papa promised!" Christine cried. Antoinette was flabbergasted. She knew Christine wasn't someone to make up stories like this but she couldn't think of any other way to explain the comment.

"What do you mean Christine?" she asked slowly.

"I was in the chapel and the Angel of Music talked to me! He knew Papa's lullaby and everything!" Christine responded rapidly. "He had a deep voice but he was so nice. And he said he was going to watch over me! Can you believe it Aunt Antoinette?"

Antoinette suddenly put all of the pieces together. She knew who the 'Angel of Music' was and it certainly wasn't anyone Gustave would have sent to watch over Christine. She knew she was going to have to try and stop this before Christine got hurt more than she already was going to be. But she also knew she had to stop Christine from spreading the news about her 'Angel'.

"Christine, that's . . . wonderful. But you probably shouldn't tell anyone about it."

"But, but why?" Christine queried, her face a mask of confusion.

"Um, because we don't want anyone else to be jealous that the Angel of Music came to you would we?" Antoinette asked with forced brightness. Sudden understanding blossomed across Christine's face and she nodded her acquiescence. Antoinette took her hand and asked; "Now where do we find Meg, hmm?"

After collecting Meg (who had been trying to imitate the dancers in Don Giovanni) they trio walked back to their apartment. Antoinette made dinner, made sure Meg and Christine had finished their homework and then sent them to bed. After making sure that the door to their bedroom was securely shut she took a deep breath and dialed the phone. Part of her prayed for the voicemail but after three rings someone answered.

"What do you want Antoinette?" the person asked irritably.

"I told you to stay away from Christine Erik, and that's what I want! The girl has been through hell over the last year and now you're playing with her emotions! Just stop it!" Antoinette demanded.

There was no immediate answer. With each passing moment Antoinette felt her dread and fear grow until she started to feel as if she might vomit. Finally Erik answered her.

"You have no right to tell me what I can and can not do Antoinette. Need I remind you that everything you have is because of me? I was responsible for you getting into the corps de ballet when you were young and then when you were injured I was the one who made sure that there was an opening for a ballet mistress – and that you got that position. I am the one who makes sure that your dead-beat of an ex-husband pays child support every month. Everything you have is the result of my goodwill. And that goodwill can very easily be withdrawn. You do not want that Antoinette. And so you will stop trying to tell me what to do. Because you won't like the consequences if you continue to do so." Then all Antoinette heard was the dial tone.

As she hung the phone up Antoinette noticed that her hand was shaking. She knew that Erik would follow through on his threats if she didn't allow him to continue his charade as Christine's Angel of Music.

"Forgive me Gustave,' she whispered. She knew she had no choice but to let Erik do as he wished.

And so she forced herself to smile and pretend to be happy as Christine told her all about her 'Angel'. She listened as Christine detailed how he sang to her and told her stories just like Gustave had done. Inwardly she prayed that Erik would tire of this game soon and just drift out of Christine's life. But deep down she knew that it wouldn't happen. Erik saw a kindred spirit in Christine and Antoinette knew that he wasn't going to let that go.


	6. Chapter 6

_Author's note – Thanks to jijwsv111 and Kalaia who reviewed last chapter. They are very much appreciated. Sorry about the delay in updating. First it was final projects, then final exams and then a research opportunity I couldn't pass up. Hopefully I'll be better for the next few months since I don't have classes until September._

_Disclaimer – I don't own "Phantom or the Opera" in any incarnation and I'm certainly not making money off this story._

Chapter 6

Antoinette's prediction that Erik would not soon tire of his charade with Christine quickly proved to be true. Christine frequently insisted on accompanying Antoinette to the opera house when she was there for rehearsals, performances, and meetings or even just to do paperwork. And once there Christine would quickly escape to the chapel and remain there until Antoinette was ready to head home. Antoinette tried to find excuses to keep Christine at home but as long as her homework was done and she had practiced for ballet class there was little she could do without enraging Erik and alerting Christine that something wasn't right.

Plus, it was hard to want to end something that clearly brought Christine so much joy. Since Erik had started his 'visits', Christine had become the Christine she had been before her father's death. She smiled and laughed more frequently and had even begun singing under her breath as she did homework, read a book or even just walked down the street. She seemed at peace again. And deep down Antoinette knew that Erik was responsible for that change.

But Antoinette at least felt some relief that Erik was the only person who could cause Christine to be happy. Meg had managed to help Christine adjust to her new life. She showed around the neighborhood, introduced her to neighbors and the fellow ballet students. Meg also helped Christine catch up with the ballet class by encouraging her to practice in the apartment at night. While the giggles that frequently erupted between them did not lend to the most productive practice sessions, it made Christine more likely to practice and it made Antoinette happy to know that her two daughters were growing closer.

Raoul de Changy was another person who managed to bring happiness into Christine's life. True to his word, Raoul had attempted to keep in touch with Christine through letters. The first had arrived just a few weeks after the funeral. When Antoinette had handed Christine the letter she had just stared at the letter and then broken into a huge grin. She had read the letter dozens of time, at least once a day until the second letter arrived when the process started all over again. After finding all of the letters hidden in one of Christine's drawers Antoinette discreetly bought her a box that just happened to be the right size to hold the letters. Typically the letters would arrive on Monday which was a day Antoinette usually went to the opera house while Meg and Christine were at school to do paperwork and other administrative tasks. But one week about a year after they had started coming the letter was a day late. That day Christine accompanied Antoinette and Meg to the opera house and slipped of to the chapel while Antoinette worked with some of members of the corps de ballet.

Antoinette was shocked when Christine returned after only half an hour looking pale and nervous. Calling a break to the rehearsal she went over to Christine and asked her what was wrong.

"I think I made the Angel made Aunt Antoinette," she answered as she blinked back tears. "I don't know what happened. I was just talking about Raoul's letter and all of a sudden he just stopped answering me and no matter what I said he say anything!"

Antoinette felt a surge of hope run through her as Christine spoke. Inwardly she prayed that Erik's jealousy would end his obsession with Christine before it did too much harm to anyone. But she also knew she had to try and comfort Christine.

"I'm sure it's all right darling," Antoinette said soothingly as she reached out and gave Christine a quick hug. "Perhaps your angel merely had an emergency he had to take care of and he didn't have time to explain it to you." Christine considered Antoinette's words and color started to return to his face.

"Maybe," she said slowly desperately wanting to believe Antoinette's explanation. Antoinette forced a cheerful smile on her face.

"I'm sure that is the reason Christine. Why don't you go find Meg in one of the practice rooms and you to can work on your ballet. Then when you get home you can just take a break and relax until bed since your homework is done. And some other day you can see if your angel has come back"

"All right Aunt Antoinette," Christine replied sounding relieved at the explanation. She rushed of to find Meg. When Antoinette came to collect them later the two girls were sitting on the practice room floor gossiping about some of their classmates (apparently one girl in their class actually was allowed to wear makeup to school!). Antoinette took them home, made dinner and helped Meg do homework while Christine read a book. Over the next week Christine went to the opera house chapel three times and each time was disappointed when her 'Angel' failed to come to her. Each time Christine returned disappointed Antoinette was outwardly sympathetic but inwardly she was rejoicing that it seemed likely that Erik had moved on to a new obsession.

But two weeks later Antoinette suddenly realized that Raoul's letters had ceased to arrive like always. After the first missed letter Christine started to ask if there was any mail for her every day. Every day that the answer was 'no' Christine became more and more depressed. Finally Antoinette started to get worried that Christine was in need of some help. Just as she was starting to look into counseling options Christine returned from a visit to the chapel practically glowing.

"He came back Aunt Antoinette! He came back!" Christine exclaimed. Antoinette felt her heart sink as she realized what this statement meant. "He said that he had some business to take care of but now I don't have to worry about any more distractions."

"That's wonderful darling," Antoinette stammered. She was in a daze as Christine took her hand and they walked back together, Christine chattering excitedly about her conversation with her angel. As she was scrubbing potatoes to cook for dinner, Antoinette had an insight as to Raoul de Changy's sudden silence. Erik wasn't one to risk rivals, even for the attention of a child. It would be just like him to decide to remove Raoul from Christine's life.

After the failed attempt to get him to stop the angel of music guise, Antoinette knew trying to get Erik to stop stealing Raoul's letters would be just as useless. Instead she tried to get around Erik. She managed to just happen to run into the post man as he was bringing the mail every day for two weeks. She spent another week trying to get the mail directly from the post office. But it didn't work. Finally after a less than subtle note appeared on her desk one morning she knew she had to give up.

Over the years Antoinette watched as Erik managed to insinuate himself more and more into Christine's life. He even forced her into helping on occasion. On birthdays and Christine Antoinette would find small gifts to Christine from her 'angel' than Antoinette had to deliver. The first time such a gift had appeared Antoinette had thrown it away. Then her paycheck managed to be mysteriously 'misplaced' for two weeks until they and the present appeared on her desk.

Fortunately or unfortunately Christine never even suspected that her 'angel' was not the benevolent spirit she believes her father had sent her. Instead she spent hours each week in the chapel with her angel, listening to stories and eventually receiving voice lessons. Antoinette had to admit that under Erik's tutelage Christine showed great promise as a singer. Even more promise that she did as a dancer. Christine and Meg both were skilled enough to be allowed to fill out the ranks of the corps de ballet on a few occasions when they needed extra dancers for large group dances. It was this skill that allowed them both to gain admission and scholarships (although Antoinette suspected Erik might also have had something to do with that) to a prestigious arts school in Paris.

After their respective graduations from school, Antoinette was able to secure positions for Meg and Christine in the opera house corps de ballet. They continued to take classes one the side at a local university but were also gaining valuable stage experience while being able to live at home. Antoinette wondered why Christine focused on dance in her studies rather than music but had learned not to question things like that at the risk of facing Erik's wrath.

All in all, Antoinette should have been happy. Her two daughters were happy, healthy and had good career prospects. But she still worried. While Christine continued to view her 'angel' as she always had, as a guide and mentor Antoinette wasn't sure if Erik continued to see Christine as a lost child needing help and a student whose talents he could help nurture. It had started on Christine's 16th birthday when her gift from Erik was accompanied by a single red rose with a black ribbon tied around its stem. Every birthday after that came with a similar rose and the gifts Erik left for Christine began to become more personal including a small locket that had been a graduation gift to Christine. Antoinette knew these gifts were not good signs and she tried to watch and wait, hoping that she would be able to minimize the damage when disaster finally struck.


	7. Chapter 7

_Author's note__- Two updates in a week! Consider it an apology for the long delay between chapters 5 and 6. _

_Disclaimer – I don't own anything and I'm not making any money off of this story._

Chapter 7

Twenty year old Christine Daae sighed as she moved through her warm-up for rehearsal. It was promising to be a very long day. First, choreography class at the university that morning, then a last rehearsal this afternoon and finally opening night for the run of Gounod's _Faust_. Of course, the resident leading lady, Carlotta Guidicelli, wasn't making things any easier. Everyone backstage could hear Carlotta's ranting. Of course, since the Diva frequently lapsed into her native Italian not everyone could understand what she was complaining about. Knowing Carlotta, it could be anything from not liking her costume to her thinking that a chorus member had been too cheeky.

Hearing a string of Italian that certainly didn't sound polite Christine rolled her eyes and moved into her next set of warm-up exercises. For what seemed like the thousandth time since Carlotta had joined the company five years ago Christine wondered how someone with such a nasty personality could have such a fantastic voice. Even those people who detested Carlotta admitted that her voice was something special. With her perfect coloratura voice and amazing range Carlotta was every opera house's dream, aside from the fact that she threw a tantrum at least twice a week. At least this current one seemed to be dying down. Christine wondered what Msr. Reyer, the conductor, was promising her to get her to calm down enough to do rehearsal.

Whatever it was it apparently worked. Less than ten minutes later Christine heard Msr. Reyer calling for the start of the rehearsal. Since the performance was that night rehearsal wasn't going to be long or involved. It was mainly to work on a few issues that had arisen at the dress run the day before and to incorporate some costumes that had been finished overnight. Christine made her way backstage with the rest of the dancers to wait for the entrance for _Ainsi que la brise légère_.

As the scene went on Christine noticed that the rehearsal was being watched by the owner of the opera house, Msr. Leferve as well as three other men. Two of the men were older, Christine guessed probably in their late forties or earlier fifties. They were dressed in what were obviously very expensive suits but the suits didn't seem to fit them. It was like they were an assistant dressing up in the boss's power suit. They were talking animatedly to a younger man with golden hair. He was dressed comfortably in a pair of chocolate brown trousers and a dark red button down shirt. As he turned to address a comment by Msr. Leferve Christine got a glimpse of his face.

"Raoul?" Christine wondered in shock. As she tried to get a better view she heard her Aunt Antoinette cry out.

"Christine Daae! Focus girl!" Inwardly berating herself for such a rookie mistake Christine forced herself to forget about the visitors and focus on the dance. As the scene ended and she moved off stage Christine tried to locate the visitors but was grabbed by Meg.

"Christine is everything okay? It's not like you to lose focus like that." Meg queried anxiously.

"I promise I'm fine Meg," Christine reassured her friend. As she tried to explain about the visitors she was interrupted by Msr. Leferve.

"Excuse me Msr. Reyer," Leferve called. "But I would like to address the company for a very important announcement." He waited impatiently for everyone to file back onstage. When everyone stood waiting he continued, "As many of you know I've owned this opera house for nearly twenty years. While I have enjoyed those years immensely I've decided that it is time to retire. As such I would like to introduce Msrs. Firmin and Andre. You've probably heard of them as the car salesmen who were winners of the record lottery jackpot a few years ago." At this, Msr. Leferve stepped back and allowed the new owners to step forward and address the company. Everyone clapped politely while a few started whispering to each other about what this change would mean for the opera house. The taller of the two men, apparently Msr. Firmin, cleared his throat.

"Thank you all for your warm welcome." Firmin said sounding a bit awkward. "My business partner and I would like express our delight at being able to be a part of this company. We would also like to introduce Msr. le Vicomte de Changy. He and his parents have graciously consented to become our largest sponsor. This will enable us to continue to make the Opera Populaire one of the leading opera houses in the world". At this Msr. Firmin motioned for the Vicomte to step forward.

Christine stared at Raoul and grabbed Meg's arm. "It is him Meg! It's Raoul!" Christine whispered excitedly. "Do you remember him? He knew Papa and me from when we went on vacation at Perros-Guirrec. He loved Papa's stories as much as I did. He even called me Little Lotte."

"That's the Raoul you were always talking about?" Meg asked. "Wow! He's turned into a hottie. Do you think he remembers you?" As Meg finished speaking she and Christine noticed that they had missed Raoul's remarks and that he was now being ushered out of the area by Firmin, Andre and Leferve. He passed within a few feet of Christine and she felt her heart rise in her throat as she tried to see if Raoul would recognize her. But his attention was consumed by the other men and he barely looked at the other people in the area.

Christine tried to pass off her hurt. "He wouldn't have recognized me. It's been over ten years after all."

"If he had seen you he would have known who you are. After all, from all your stories it seems like you were basically childhood sweethearts. How could he not know his childhood sweetheart?" Meg tried to reassure her friend.

Christine shrugged, "Maybe." Everyone had started chatting among themselves as Msr. Reyer tried in vain to get everyone's attention so that they could finish rehearsal. He had just started to make headway when Msrs. Leferve, Firmin and Andre returned. Msr. Leferve immediately started introducing the new owners to the rest of the company.

"This is Msr. Reyer our musical director and our ballet mistress Mme. Giry." Leferve quickly pointed out each person. And then noticing Carlotta's face he quickly ushered the new owners towards her. "And of course you know our Prima Donna for the last five seasons, the fantastic La Carlotta." The managers murmured their assent uttered bland compliments about Carlotta's voice and beauty.

Then Firmin made what a comment that guaranteed Carlotta's goodwill. "Signora Guidicelli, I know that tonight we open with a performance of _Faust_. I would be honored if you would provide us with a rendition of Marguerite's _Jewel Song_ because I know that you are well known for the excellence of your performance".

Christine heard Meg snort in amusement at the absurd flattery and mutter "Excellence my foot. Carlotta's only excellence is in sounding like it's a computer in her throat rather than vocal chords." Inwardly, Christine agreed. While Carlotta probably had one of the best technical voices around, Christine was wanted more heart from a performance. From her own music lessons Christine had come to believe that while technique was important it was emotion that gave music its power. Christine tried to zone out as Carlotta took center stage and started to sing.

_Ah! je ris de me voir si belle en ce miroir,_

_Ah! je ris de me voir . . . _

In the middle of the second line Christine was jolted back to reality by Meg grabbing her arm and dragging her accompanied by the sound of squealing pulleys. She heard a crash and looked to see Carlotta sprawled on the floor just narrowly having avoided being hit by a falling screen that was used for scenery. Carlotta's lover and the opera house's leading tenor, Piangi rushed over to her and helped her to stand. Leferve, Firmin and Andre all tried frantically to ensure Carlotta's well-being and apologize. Christine saw that Carlotta's eyes were shooting daggers at the excuses.

"For the past three years these accidents have been happening!" she screamed. "Three years! Well, mai ancora! Never again! Until you can guarantee my safety I will not sing here again!" Carlotta stormed off with Piangi and her entourage in tow. Msrs. Firmin and Andre looked questioningly at Msr. Leferve.

"What, what do we do" asked Andre completely stunned. Leferve shrugged.

"There isn't much you can do. When La Carlotta is like this all you can do is wait for her to cool off and then flatter her enough for her to come back. And since there is nothing else that I can do, I will take my leave." With that, Leferve left without looking back. Andre and Firmin were to shocked to even go after him.

"What do we do?" Firmin questioned despairingly. "How can we perform without the two leads?" As if on cue the two new owners looked towards Msr. Reyer.

"Well, we have an understudy for Piangi but Carlotta always refuses one. We had to promise her never to assign an understudy to get her to perform once a couple years ago because she thought her understudy was sounding better than her."

"Oh God," Firmin moaned. "It's our first night and we're already going to have to issue refunds for the entire house. We'll be bankrupt in a week."

"Christine Daae could sing it," Antoinette interjected.

"Who?" Andre asked.

"Christine Daae. My ward and a member of the corps de ballet." Antoinette answered calmly gesturing towards Christine. Christine of course was pale and still from the shock of her guardian suggesting that she take over the lead role.

"A dancer?" Firmin cried incredulously. "You want us to let a dancer sing, and not just any role but Marguerite?"

"She can do it Msr. Firmin. I promised you." Antoinette replied with absolute conviction.

Firmin sighed. "All right, all right. You, girl, what's your name? Start from the beginning of the Jewel Song please." Christine didn't move. "Come on, come on we don't have all day."

Andre went over to Christine and gently guided her to center stage. "It's all right. Just do your best." he said patting her arm. Christine nodded dumbly at him. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. She could do this. Her teacher had made sure she knew the role and after hearing Carlotta sing it during rehearsals the entire opera was in her memory. She could do this.

_Ah! je ris de me voir si belle en ce miroir,_

_Ah! je ris de me voir . . . _

As she sang Christine felt herself forgetting that she was ballet girl singing and started becoming the character. She didn't realize that more than one member of the opera house company was staring at her in shock. No one could believe that she had a voice like that. Even the managers were impressed. Finally Christine finished the last line of the aria with a flourish.

_Ah! je ris de me voir si belle dans ce miroir!_

As Christine finished she became aware that everyone around her was clapping enthusiastically. She blushed and gave a small bow in appreciation. The new owners came rushing up to her.

"Do you think you can perform the role tonight?" Firmin demanded.

"Because that was absolutely stunning," Andre added.

Christine hesitated until she noticed Antoinette nodding her head. "Yes I think I can do it."

"Wonderful. Make sure the costumes fit and be ready to go on." Firmin instructed. With that he turned and strode from the stage. Andre tailed behind.

The rest of the afternoon was spent getting ready. Christine had to endure costume fittings. Luckily Carlotta was not much larger than her so simple alterations allowed the costumes to work. Christine also had to make sure she knew the blocking and to run through a few of the duets with Piangi's understudy. But all too quickly the it was time for the performance. As she made her first entrance Christine made a quick prayer that all of the lessons she had recieved from her Angel would allow her do well tonight. And then she through herself into the performance.

She captivated every member of the audience. Not only was her voice beautiful but her performance was excellent. She almost literally became the character in front of everyone's eyes. But no audience member was more captivated that Raoul de Changy. He had been late arriving to the performance because he had needed to finish a business call. As a result he had missed the annoucement of Christine replacing Carlotta. But the minute he saw her, he thought she looked like his old childhood friend. And when she sang he knew it had to be Christine. She had sung with that much emotion and energy as a child singing along with her father. He knew that he would make sure to see Christine once the performance was over.

As Christine gave her curtain call she knew she had never felt happier. She had recieved a standing ovation from the audience and she knew that she had made her father, her Aunt Antoinette and hopefully her Angel proud of her performance. And she had finally found the joy in music that she had missed since her father passed on. And so once she was able to break away from the rest of the cast, she snuck back to the chapel to remember her father and see if her Angel approved of her performance.


	8. Chapter 8

_Author's note - Sorry about the delay. Real life keeps interfering. Reviews are appreciated!_

_Disclaimer-Don't own anything and I'm certainly not making money_

Chapter 8

Glancing behind her to make sure no one had seen her, Christine slipped into the chapel. Seeing the moonlight illuminating the familiar stained glass window she smiled and made her way in front of the altar. With a gesture born of familiarity she reached for a taper to light a candle. Christine sank to her knees, the white silk of her costume pooling around her. Bowing her head she prayed.

"Holy Father thank you for tonight, thank you for this opportunity and help me continue to use the gifts you have given me. Amen". With a sigh Christine raised her head and stared out the window at the stars that she could just make out through the colored glass and started to speak to her other father. "Are you proud of me Papa?" she whispered. "I'm a star! And it's all because you sent me the Angel of Music. I just wish you were hear with me tonight Papa."

"Brava Christine. Brava."

At the sound of the voice Christine was startled out of her reverie. "Angel?" she asked but before there was time for an answer she saw Meg standing in the doorway wearing her favorite low rise jeans and a sky blue t-shirt. Christine hurriedly wiped her eyes with her hand and smiled in welcome at her friend and 'sister'.

"So this is where you've been running off to for year," she said jokingly.

"I need to get away from you sometimes and since religion isn't your thing it seemed the logical choice" Christine replied. Meg stepped out of the doorway and sat down on the floor next to Christine.

"Ha ha. Very funny. Seriously though, is this how you managed to get so good at singing? I've never seen you mouth along with the chorus much less practice! And who is this tutor Mom talked about?" Meg asked.

Christine shook her head. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you Meg."

"Try me," Meg replied encouragingly. "After all, if Mom knows it can't be too out there!"

"After my father was diagnosed and right before he went into the hospital for the last time he promised me that he would send me the Angel of Music, just like in the stories he always told. And I have been Meg! It started shortly after I started to live with you and I would come here to pray and I would hear his voice talking to me. Over time he started to give me lessons because he said Papa would have wanted that." Seeing Meg's skeptical look Christine paused. "You don't believe me do you?"

"It isn't that I don't believe you," Meg said choosing her words carefully. "It is just hard to believe. After all, angels are something out of stories not real life." Carefully she rose and pulled Christine up with her, gently guiding her out into the hallway. "Come on. Let's get you out of that costume and into some real clothes so that your adoring public can express themselves to you. Let me tell you, there a lot of hot guys out there who would do just about anything to get a private performance from you if you know what I mean."

"Oh but I can't do that Meg. The Angel has told me I need to be very disciplined. And since he's always watching over me to protect me he would know if I went out."

Meg laughed. "You're kidding me right?" Upon seeing Christine's serious expression she raised her eyebrows in dismay, "That's kind of creepy that he's always watching you." Through their joined hands Meg felt Christine shudder.

"Well, I suppose it would seem creepy if it was a man. But an angel is supposed to watch over you always so that you are always safe," Christine replied hesitantly. She forced a smile on her face. "But we really should get back to the dressing room before I ruin this dress or the wardrobe people are going to have my head, diva or not!"

Together they walked through the halls backstage, managing to avoid most of the crowds until they got to Christine's dressing room. Luckily, Antoinette was there and her glare managed to get the crowd to back up enough for Christine to slip through. Meg was going to follow her but a Look from her mother convinced her not to.

Once the door closed behind them, Christine turned to face Antoinette, smiling questioningly at her. Antoinette came and gave her a quick, fierce hug. "You did so well tonight Christine. I am so proud of you and I know that your father would be too. "

"Thank you Aunt Antoinette," Christine whispered as she returned the hug. "You don't know how much I needed to hear that."

"Of course I do," Antoinette replied as she drew away. "Now, why don't you change into something a little more comfortable and then you should probably at least make an appearance. But I want you in bed at a reasonable hour, do you hear me? You may be a diva now, but I would prefer you stay a healthy diva and that means sleep."

Christine laughed. "Of course I'll get to bed in time. I'm so tired now I feel like I could sleep for a week if I were allowed to." Antoinette started towards the door and as she passed in front of the table near it that was left for cards and other small gifts from adoring fans; Christine noted a dark red rose with a black ribbon tied around its stem sitting in the center. "Aunt Antoinette, who did that rose come from?"

Antoinette's face went blank. "He is pleased with you," she said cryptically and slipped out the door. Confused Christine walked over and picked up the rose as Antoinette left. Walking around the room she studied it, as if hoping she could find some message within the floor. She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't hear the door open.

"Little Lotte let her mind wander." Christine was so startled upon hearing a voice that she dropped the rose on the floor.

"Little Lotte thought am I fonder of dolls." Christine turned to see Raoul leaning against the door frame, his blue eyes shining with laughter and joy.

"Or the red scarf her friend ran into the ocean to retrieve for her," Christine replied her face breaking into a huge grin as she moved towards her friend.

"And was I soaked after that adventure," Raoul laughed as he pulled her into a hug. Christine returned the embrace, resting her head on his chest. Raoul gently guided her over to the small sofa in the room and sat them down on it. "By the way, whatever happened to that scarf?"

"It's at home," Christine replied.

"At home!" Raoul cried in mock outrage. "After all that work I went through to get it and you leave it at home?"

"Well, I can't bring it with and risk losing it when you aren't around, can I?" teased Christine.

Raoul placed a kiss on her head. "I suppose you're right. You sang like an angel tonight you know."

"Well, I had help from an angel," Christine assured him. Drawing back slightly so she could see his face she said, "Papa said that when he was in heaven he would send the Angel of Music to me. And soon after he died I was visited by the Angel of Music Raoul."

"No doubt that only an angel, or Gustave Daae, could inspire a voice like that. And now, we need to get out of here so we can catch up. I'll have them bring around the car while you change." Raoul stood and strode to the door. Just before he walked out he turned around and looked at her "Two minutes, Little Lotte". With that he shut the door.

Christine rushed to the door, intending to tell him that she couldn't go out, that she had to follow the rules of the Angel of Music. But as she started to open the door she noticed the crowd outside and quickly shut it. Leaning her head against the door she said sadly, "Things have changed Raoul."

She stayed that way for a few moments and then with a sigh started to change. She hung up the costume for the wardrobe crew to collect later and changed into the clothes that were waiting for her. They weren't the sweatpants and t-shirt she had been wearing earlier but instead a pair of charcoal grey pant, sapphire blue silk camisole and black shrug. "Perfect for a diva" Christine thought in amusement, mentally thanking Antoinette for choosing the outfit. After changing she went to the vanity to start removing her stage makeup. She had just finished taking off the makeup when she started to feel as if she was being watched. Looking around the room she saw that no one was there and started to brush out her hair. But as she drew the brush through her curls the feeling continued.

"Angel?" she whispered for the second time that night. Suddenly all of the lights in the room went off. Panic kept Christine frozen in her chair but then she started to sprint towards the door. Just as she touched the door handle a voice answered her.


	9. Chapter 9

_Disclaimer – Don't own anything and certainly not making money off of it._

Chapter 9

"Insolent boy! Daring to try and share in the glory of your performance! The glory of my triumph!"

Slowly, Christine removed her shaking hand from the door handle. Forcing it down to her side she unconsciously moved into the position she would take if she was singing an aria in front of an audience. She knew this voice. Even though it was filling the room it was not loud but the rage in it seemed to thicken the air in the room. Christine started breathing faster as she tried to calm her teacher.

"I am so sorry!" she cried looking up a the ceiling. "I didn't know he would come back here or I would have told him that I wanted to be alone. And then I was so happy to see an old friend that I didn't want to send him away. I promise that it won't happen again. I promise Angel."

"I know child," the Voice responded, the anger in his voice starting to fade. "You have always done everything that I have asked and so I will forget this instance. Especially after tonight's performance! You were wonderful, child. It was everything I could have hoped for after all these years." Christine felt herself relaxing believing the danger of his anger to have passed. As the anger faded the Voice became softer and more inviting, it was almost as if it was real and wrapping her in a warm blanket and making her feel safe and isolated from everything bad in the world.

"Thank you Angel," Christine replied with a smile appearing on her lips. "Considering you made tonight possible with all those years of lessons I would hate to think I disappointed you. And tonight was just . . . amazing." At this the smile became a huge grin. "What a night. It was so fantastic being on stage and getting to sing. Especially the role of Marguerite! I've always loved "Faust" and to get to perform the lead was beyond my wildest dreams. I've never had an experience like that!"

"I'm am glad that you enjoyed your triumph child. It will be the first of many, I promise. But tonight I have another surprise for you."

"Another surprise Angel? What is it?"

"Walk towards the mirror child and tell me what you see," the Voice instructed. Christine walked towards the large mirror and looked curiously at it.

"I only see my reflection. Should I see something else?" Christine asked with a note of hesitation in her voice.

"Look closer Christine. Just listen to my voice and look closer. Closer Christine, just look closer". Christine peered deeper into the mirror, letting the Voice's words wash over her and suddenly she thought she saw deep in the glass a faint speck of golden light.

"I see a, a light Angel!"

"Good Christine. Just keep looking deeper. Focus on that light and just keep listening to my voice." There was a pause. "Now walk towards the mirror Christine. Slowly. Keep watching the light and listening to my voice as you walk towards the mirror."

As she approached the mirror Christine felt her world narrowing down to the small speck of light she saw and her Angel's voice. She reached out her right hand to touch the mirror when she heard a voice screaming her name. "Raoul," she murmured turning to her left in order to see the door. Just as she started to become more aware of what was going on she felt a cold hand close on her wrist and tug her. A flash of light blinded her and as she opened her mouth to scream she felt another hand close itself over her mouth, muffling her screams. With a shock Christine realized that she was no longer in her dressing room, but in a dark tunnel that appeared to be behind the mirror. The fear combined with the fatigue from the performance became too much. Christine felt her knees buckle as black spots began to obscure her vision. The last sensations that she was aware of were the feel of arms stopping her descent to the floor and her Angel's voice whispering her name.

The first sensation Christine was aware of as she came to was the feel of silk beneath her cheek. Opening her eyes she saw that her head was resting on a pillow covered with a cream silk pillow case. She was laying in a large canopy bed. The canopy and draperies on the bed were sapphire blue and gold which accented the light brown wooden bed frame. As the reality of her location set in Christine jerked into a sitting position. With a sigh of relief she looked down and noticed that she was still in the clothes she had worn the night before.

Easing herself out of the bed Christine moved around trying to examine the room. The only light in the room came from a single lamp sitting on a table in one corner of the room. Next to the lamp there was a tray of food and a chair was pulled up to the small table. There was a goblet of orange juice, a collection of muffins, a bowl of strawberries and a slab of butter. Ignoring the food Christine continued her examination. The wallpaper was the same blue and gold as the bed hangings and all of the furniture was the same old fashioned style as the bed. Christine noticed a large dresser and another small table next to a fireplace on one wall. There were no windows, just two doors. She approached one and her heart sank to find it locked. She quickly moved to the other one. Her joy when the knob turned quickly dissipated when she saw that it led to a large bathroom.

Having concluded that there was nothing else to discover Christine returned to the tray of food. Cautiously she picked up the glass and sniffed it, trying to see if she could smell anything out of the ordinary. Then she took a small sip and tried to see if it tasted normal. Even this small taste was enough to set her stomach rumbling. Christine ruefully remembered that she hadn't eaten much before the performance because of nerves. And her plans to grab something at the apartment had been disrupted by whatever had happened in the dressing room.

Christine decided that it would be better to confront her abductor having eaten than not sat down to the table and quickly devoured two muffins the strawberries and the glass of juice. As she sat back in the chair, sated, the reality of her situation began to sink in. She had no idea where she was, who had taken her, for why and no hope of getting out anytime soon. As fear started to build a cold feeling started in her stomach and began to spread outwards. She pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around her legs, staring into space. Her mind began to go through every single horror it could think of. The only thing that kept her from losing it was the fact that she remembered seeing Raoul rush into the room as she looked through the mirror, or rather the other side of the mirror, right before she passed out. Christine prayed that Raoul had been able to get help and that a rescue would happen very soon.

After a while Christine began to feel the familiar sensation of being watched. Turning around in the chair she looked towards the door that had been locked. Standing in the door way, the door open behind him, was a man. He was tall, well built and wearing a dark tailored suit. His hair was dark and fell to just above his shirt collar. His eyes were a striking green, but the most prominent feature about this man was the white half mask he wore on the right side of the face. Christine got to her feet and faced him, raising her chin defiantly she waited for him to speak, to explain, to do something. But after a few seconds it became clear that the man was waiting for her to make the first move.

"Who are you," Christine demanded with just a small tremor in her voice.

"I am Erik," the man answered simply in a ringing voice. For the second time in a short amount of time Christine felt her knees begin to give way. For this man, this Erik, had spoken in the same voice as her Angel of Music.


	10. Chapter 10

_Author's Note – I am very sorry about the delay in this chapter. Life decided to interfere and I got bogged down by work, family stuff and then classes. I'll try to be better from now on, I promise!_

_Disclaimer – I don't own Phantom of the Opera. And I'm certainly not making money off of this story._

Chapter 10

Christine felt a jolt of pain as her knees hit the dark blue carpet on the floor. She reached down to the floor with her right hand trying to prevent herself from falling face first into it. Her left hand came up to rest on her chest as she closed her eyes and tried to focus on taking deep breaths. She didn't want to risk losing consciousness again, especially considering what had happened the last time.

After a few moments, as she was starting to feel that she wasn't in imminent danger of passing out Christine opened her eyes to find two green eyes, one staring out of a white mask, right in front of her. Instinctively Christine thrust herself away from those eyes and scrambled backwards. Despite the fact that Erik made no move to follow her, she kept backing up until her back was against the bed. Without taking her eyes from the masked man she used the bed hangings to pull herself to a standing position.

"Stay away from me," she commanded while trying to catch her breath. The fear and movement had made her chest feel like her lungs were much too small. Warily she looked at Erik, tensed and ready to move should he try to move towards her again.

"Relax Christine," Erik said soothingly. "I just came close to see if I could help you, child. You seemed like you were in distress and I thought I might be able to help."

"You can _help_," Christine replied bitingly, "by taking me back to my dressing room and then staying the hell away from me." She thought she saw an expression of pain and anger flicker across the visible half of Erik's face as her words hit home. But it was gone so quickly, replaced by an expression of controlled serenity, that she couldn't be sure what she had seen.

"I'm afraid that won't be possible, my dear," Erik replied. Christine felt a chill run down her spine at the sense of possession that Erik was able to infuse the phrase 'my dear' with. And the chill became a constant companion as he continued. "You see, I took a risk bringing you here to continue your training. And until I can be sure that you can be trusted . . ." Pausing, Erik began taking slow, but deliberate, steps towards Christine. For each step he took Christine hurriedly took one back until her back was pressed against the wall. But Erik kept advancing until he was only a foot away from her. He reached out his left hand and stretched it towards her face. It was a strong hand but with abnormally long, thin fingers. And it was pale, as if it had never been touched by a ray of sunlight. Christine squeezed her eyes shut as the hand moved towards, wishing she could move but the pain of trying to squeeze as close to the wall as possible letting her know that she was trapped. She shivered as the cold hand caressed her cheek.

With her eyes still squeezed shut she heard Erik speak, with a touch of laughter in his voice. "As I said, until I am sure that you can be trusted I will need to keep you somewhere that I can keep an eye on you. I would recommend changing clothes my dear, for I will return shortly for your lesson. Your performance last night was superb but there are still details to address. Some of your trills, for example, sounded a bit forced." Christine felt but continued to stand rigid with tension until she heard the door open and close.

At that sound the adrenalin that had kept her standing and somewhat defiant seemed to leave her completely. Christine slid to a sitting position on the floor and bent her head into her knees as sobs wracked her body. All the fear, anger and even pain that she was feeling came flooding out in those tears. After awhile the sobs slowed, and as she lifted her head Christine felt a new sense of clarity and purpose. There had to be a way to escape. She just had to be ready.

Realizing that her clothes, aside from being disheveled from everything that had happened, were not well suited for an escape attempt, Christine moved to the dresser to see what she could find. Inside the top two drawers was an assortment of tops in her size. The next drawer contained blue jeans and dress pants while the final drawer contained three shoes boxes. Christine was disappointed that none of them contained tennis shoes and so took a pair of black flats figuring that it was better to run in flat shoes than heels. Returning to the earlier drawers she removed a pair of blue jeans, a wine colored cardigan and chocolate brown silk camisole. She dressed quickly, afraid that Erik might come in while she was changing.

Once she was fully dressed Christine took up a position next to the door. This was the only way out and since she knew Erik would be back any moment to escort her to her 'lesson' she knew that the door would be opening soon, her best shot at getting free would be to try and sneak past him as he opened the door.

She didn't have long to wait. Within a few moments she heard a key turn in the lock and the door began to open. Holding her breath Christine waited until Erik had stepped into the room and then she shoved him with all her might into the door and sprinted through the door. She heard a grunt of pain from Erik that she noted with some pleasure. Glancing around the adjoining room she saw what appeared to be a living room with a piano, a loveseat, coffee table and a couple of chairs. But most importantly, there were windows and a door that seemed to lead outside. Christine ran to it and wrenched open the door. Once outside she was shocked to find that she wasn't outside at all. She seemed to be in a large cave – and one with a small bay. And what appeared to be an open portcullis at the cave entrance.

She was just trying to decided whether or not to plunge herself into the water and try to swim for it when she felt hands grab her and turn her around. She was terrified to find herself staring into Erik's eyes and the fury that was a conflagration in them.

"Don't you ever try that again Christine," he snarled into her face. "I see I've been too eager to get started so we'll just have to try something different." Christine began to struggle as Erik started dragging her back into the house. Nearly throwing her to the ground, he shoved her into the room she had woken up in and slammed the door. Frozen in shock, Christine just stood their blindly staring at the door. She was shocked when just a few moments later Erik stormed back into the room. This time he carried a glass half full of a clear liquid. Striding over to her and grabbing her arm to draw her close, Erik shoved the drink into her hand. "Drink it," he commanded icily. Numbly Christine shook her head. Forcing her hand and the glass up to her face Erik said "Drink it because you won't like the consequences if you don't."

Knowing she had no choice, Christine obediently raised the glass to her lips. The raised designs on the glass pressed into her lips and the liquid had a slight metallic taste. By the time she finished drinking it she could already feel herself becoming dizzy. She felt Erik sweep her up into his arms and deposit her into the bed. And as the darkness claimed her Christine thought she heard Erik whisper "Sleep well, my angel".

When Christine woke again her head was pounding. Looking around the room she saw another meal set up where the breakfast had been earlier. Next to the plate was a small budvase holding one red and one white rose. Propped against the budvase was an ivory envelope with Christine written in red ink. Nervously, she opened the envelope and removed the letter inside.

_My dear Christine,_

_I am most deeply sorry for my outburst yesterday. While I was understandably upset at your actions, my reaction was completely uncalled for. I pray that you will forgive me and that we can start again. I promise you that you are safe with me. I merely want to help you prefect the voice you have been given and once I feel that you understand that I promise that I will return you to your home. You have a gift that is meant to be shared and I hope that it will be ready to share soon._

_Erik_

Christine realized from the letter that she wouldn't be able to get away on her own. She needed to convince Erik to bring her back. And that would mean playing along with his little fantasy. She would have to go slowly. If she seemed too eager Erik might become suspicious and getting home would take longer. Sitting down at the table she ate as much of the food as her stomach could handle and planned her tactics.

When Erik came to fetch her again, she acted wary and resistant but she went with him. For his part Erik seemed pleased with her acquiescence and acted as if everything that had occurred earlier didn't exist. The lesson was fairly simple, largely scales and etudes to work on her technique. After wards he made and served dinner for the two of them. Following dinner, he played piano for her.

The days continued like this for nearly two weeks. Christine would awake to find breakfast waiting for her. She would have the morning to herself to read from some of Erik's books or study music. After lunch would be time for lessons followed by dinner. After dinner would usually involve Erik either playing piano or reading to her. Christine tried to slowly grow charming and open, as if she was succumbing to Erik's charm and happy to be there. It seemed to work as Erik began to let her roam more and more around the small house on the lake. It was not large. Just the family room, her bedroom, kitchen and one room Erik kept locked. Christine assumed it was his bedroom and wondered what he was hiding there.

But the strain of the act began to affect Christine. She had trouble sleeping and eating as she worried that Erik would never let her go. As a result it became increasingly difficult for her to continue to be sweet when Erik was around. She probably could have kept it up longer had Erik not decided to introduce her to his music.

It was after dinner and Christine was sitting on the sofa reading a book of Middle Easter fairy tales while Erik played piano. As he announced he was going to play one of his own pieces, Christine forced a smile on her face and expressed delight. But the music was far from delightful. That isn't to say it was bad. In fact Christine thought it could possibly be the very best music she had ever heard. But it was completely different from everything she had heard before. And it stirred up every emotion she could possibly think of – including those she had tried to keep buried for the last two weeks. All of the pain, fear, and anger came boiling up until Christine knew she had to do something.

And she did. Whether she wanted to hurt Erik as much as he hurt her or just wanted to make it stop, Christine did something that she knew would get a reaction. Coming up behind him at the piano she reached out and removed the mask he wore.


	11. Chapter 11

_Author's Note: I am very sorry for the delay in this. Real life decided to intervene and I've been trying to just keep up with life for awhile. Hopefully I'll be able to update more frequently now that classes are done for the semester._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Phantom, and I'm just borrowing some of the ideas and characters for awhile._

_From previous chapter_

_And she did. Whether she wanted to hurt Erik as much as he hurt her or just wanted to make it stop, Christine did something that she knew would get a reaction. Coming up behind him at the piano she reached out and removed the mask he wore._

Chapter 10

Christine could feel the smooth leather of Erik's mask in her hand as she gazed upon the right side of his face. Everything but that feel and that sight seemed to fade into the background. The cheekbone was lower on that side and the side of the nose seemed to melt into it. The skin underneath his eye was stretched tight due to the placement of the cheekbone. The skin around the eye, cheek and temple was red and raw looking and open sores and blisters were present near the hairline.

It wasn't until a clatter drew Christine back to reality that she even realized that Erik had moved. The piano bench lay on its side on the floor and Erik had stood. She just had time to notice the fury blazing in his eyes when he grabbed her arm. Christine struggled against him as he dragged her across the room. Throwing her into a chair, Erik thrust his face just inches from hers.

"Is this what you wanted to see Christine?" he hissed at her. "Is it? Have you ever seen anything like it, Christine? Am I not a loathsome looking monster?" Trembling, Christine tried to look away from him, too terrified to answer. Erik reached out and grabbed Christine's chin to forcing her to look at him. As their eyes met, Christine caught a glimpse of something other anger in the depths of Erik's eyes. But before she could identify it, Erik dropped his hand and turning, he strode away from her. Reaching the piano, he placed both hands on it. Christine watched as his shoulders slumped wearily as he leaned his weight onto his hands.

"You would think after all of these years, I would be used to this face. But even a demon can dream of Heaven." Erik spoke softly, his voice filled with weariness, despair and bitterness. "There is man behind the mask, behind the monster Christine. One who has spent every day of his life dreaming of the beauty of a normal life and knowing that it could never happen. Until you. Until you. Oh. Christine".

In the silence that followed Christine sat motionless, afraid to make a move and possibly cause Erik's temper to flare again. But then she heard the almost imperceptible sound of a tear splashing onto the piano. Cautiously she stood up and made her way over to the piano. She gently placed her left hand on Erik's shoulder. Her right hand she used to extend the mask she still clutched in front of him. His eyes darted towards her once and then he gave a brief nod of gratitude as he reached out and reclaimed the mask. Christine took two steps back as he lifted the mask up and placed it back on his face. With a deep, shuddering breath Erik turned to face Christine. The expression in his eyes and on the visible half of his face was inscrutable. As Erik continued to stare at her, Christine's heart started to pound again as the question of what would happen now began to present unpleasant possibilities.

Instead, Erik reached into his pocket and pulled something out. He said slowly, "I think it is time for you to return to the opera house". He took Christine's right hand and gently slid a thin gold band onto her ring finger. "This ring protects you Christine. As long as you wear it, you will be safe. I swear it. It is a sign of trust between us; a trust that I know you won't break. I would have preferred to place it on your other hand, but it would cause too many questions."

Christine momentarily stared at the ring, and all it entailed, in mute horror until the significance of his first sentence sank in. She was going home. Suddenly, the ring seemed unimportant. That could be dealt with later. Now, all she wanted was to get home and try to figure out what was happening to her life. If accepting this piece of gold would get her out of here, then it was worth it. Bringing her right hand close to her body she lightly touched the ring with her other hand. Looking into Erik's eyes she nodded her understanding.

* * *

Approximately an hour later, Christine found herself alone in the dressing room she had occupied the night of her performance in "Faust". She was sore and exhausted after a long journey from Erik's home on the lake. Initially Christine had wondered why he wasn't taking pains to prevent her from being able to find her way back, or lead others down to his home, but after a short time being led through the labyrinth of tunnels underneath the opera house she understood. There was no way she would be able to remember the way back, it was far too complicated. He had finally led her back to the dressing room and without a word, left her there.

And now she stood, finally out of her prison, but with no idea what to do. She had been with Erik for quite some time and it was very likely people would have been worried about where she was. Especially Raoul. But if people started asking questions, she didn't know how to answer. Telling people that the angel she thought had been sent by her father turned out not to be an angel but instead was a stalker who had a house on the lake underneath the opera house probably wasn't going to get taken too seriously.

Plus, Christine worried about what Erik would do should he find out. His possessiveness of her and his temper could turn ugly very quickly if he discovered that she had told someone about him. She shuddered, thinking of what he could do to her, or to those she cared about. Christine whirled towards the door as she heard it start to open. She found herself face to face with Antoinette Giry.

"Aunt Antoinette?" Christine whispered, tears coming to her eyes.

Antoinette strode across the room and hugged Christine fiercely. "Thank God," she said, over and over. "Thank God you are all right. He told me that he had you safe, and that I should make excuses for your absence. But I was so afraid that he would never let you go and I didn't know what I could do to save you."

Christine pulled slightly away from Antoinette. "You knew?" she asked accusingly. "You knew this whole time that he was manipulating me and pretending to be the Angel of Music my father promised? You knew and you did nothing?"

Antoinette merely looked at Christine and nodded. And with that brief gesture Christine's world shattered again.


	12. Chapter 12

_Author's note: Classes started again so now that I'm not working two jobs and have a more regular schedule, I'm hoping to update once a week or so. Reviews are appreciated!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Phantom and this is just for fun. I'm not making any money off of this._

Seeing the impact of her affirmation on Christine, Antoinette moved to embrace her again. As her hand gently touched Christine's shoulder, the younger girl jerked away.

"Don't touch me," she hissed. "Just don't touch me. Not after this."

"I'm sorry, " Antoinette said softly, pain echoing in every syllable. "I know those words are inadequate. But all I can say is that I am sorry. I know that I failed you, I failed your father and I wish I could have done things differently. God Christine, do you have any idea how hard it was to watch this, this, this disaster coming and not being able to do anything about it? My heart broke every time you told me about your 'lessons' because I knew how this situation would end. I'm sorry."

With every word Antoinette spoke Christine seemed to have more and more weight added to her. Her shoulder sagged and her eyes filled with tears as her face became more and more wan. Raising her head to look Antoinette in the face she took a hesitant step forward and asked the only question that mattered.

"Then why?"

That question was all Antoinette needed. Closing the distance between them she gathered Christine into an embrace, placing a soft kiss on Christine's curls.

"Because otherwise Erik would have destroyed us," Antoinette replied simply. "I told him to stop after he contacted you the first time and he threatened to make me lose my job. And when I refused to give you one of gifts, my paychecks mysteriously stopped coming. I wanted to stop it, but I just couldn't." As she spoke, all of the guilt, anger and fear Antoinette had felt due to the situation began to release themselves through tears. These tears slid down her face and gently fell on to the top of Christine's head.

Slowly Christine's arms found their way around Antoinette and she returned the embrace Antoinette had initiated. They stood there for a few moments, each trying to regain their composure.

"So what do I do now?" Christine asked tiredly.

"I don't know," Antoinette replied with a sigh. "But for now we should get you home. Rehearsals for the next production start tomorrow and you'll need to be there."

"But can't you just excuse me from rehearsals for day or two?" Christine asked in surprise. As ballet mistress, Antoinette could excuse any member of the corps de ballet from rehearsal.

"Not anymore," Antoinette replied with a small smile as she started to guide Christine from the dressing room. "Based on your performance in _Faust_ the new mangers have decided that you are more valuable as a singer than a dancer. So even though you have the silent role of the pageboy in _Il Muto_, you are still expected to be at rehearsals."

"I get to be a singer?" Christine queried excitedly. For a moment all thoughts of the situation of Erik were forgotten until she remembered how she had gotten her chance in _Faust_. "_He_ didn't have anything to do with this, did he?" Furtively Christine looked around, hoping no one was around to overhear.

"No, Erik had nothing to do with the decision" Antoinette said vehemently. "This was solely based on your talent. The managers had already talked to me about the decision the night of the gala. Erik didn't have time to interfere."

"Really?" Christine asked hopefully.

"Really," Antoinette replied. "But speaking of the mangers, they, and everyone else, think that you decided to take a trip to Perros Guirec, to visit your father's grave. It would probably be best for everyone, if you stuck to that story. Even with Meg."

"I understand," Christine replied despondently, lowering her head to rest on Antoinette's shoulder.

They walked the rest of the way back to the apartment in silence. Both were relieved to find Meg was not at home. Christine stumbled to their bedroom and collapsed on the bed. Pulling the bedspread up to her chin she finally felt herself start to relax. Knowing that she was home, for now, allowed her to surrender to a deep sleep.

Her exhaustion was so complete that she slept through the rest of the day and night. Christine finally awoke to the feeling of a finger being incessantly jammed into her ribcage. Rolling over she saw Meg smiling mischievously at her.

"Come on sleepyhead!" Meg teased. "You don't want to be late. Especially not to your first rehearsal as one of the cast instead of a lowly ballerina." Meg's nose crinkled in disgust as a new thought entered her head. "Unless, you are going to start mimicking Carlotta's diva act. And if so, then I'm going to pretend I don't know you."

"Ha ha. Very funny." Christine retorted sleepily until Meg's first words sank in. Then she jolted up and frantically started pulling on clothes appropriate for rehearsal.

"Calm down!" Meg laughed as she caught a flying sweater and set it down on Christine's bed. "You have time. _Maman_ thought you might forget to set the alarm and made sure that I would get you up in plenty of time."

"Aunt Antoinette isn't here?" Christine asked with a note of panic creeping into her voice.

"No," Meg answered, confused at Christine's tone. "She had some work she had to take care of before rehearsal. She did ask that you stop by and see her before rehearsal. I think she wants to wish you luck."

Christine nodded as she pulled on a pair of blue jeans, feeling relieved to know that Antoinette would be there to help her deal with any situation that arose. With Meg offering a running commentary on the events at the Opera Populaire while Christine had been on her 'vacation', Christine finished dressing and ate a quick breakfast before they headed to rehearsal. Upon arrival, Meg headed to the ballet dressing room to change while Christine headed to Antoinette's office.

Knocking on the slightly ajar door, Christine slid into the room. Antoinette looked up as she entered and gave her a welcoming smile.

"Feeling better after some sleep?" Antoinette asked.

"Yeah. That was the best I've slept in awhile." Christine admitted.

"Me too," Antoinette sighed thinking of her restless nights knowing Christine was with Erik. "I'm glad Meg got you over here in time to talk before rehearsal."

"Is there anything wrong? Does it have to do with Erik?" Christine asked.

"Unfortunately, yes it does. Apparently he wanted you to be cast as the Countess. Carlotta threw a hissy fit and Firmin and Andre caved. But I would just try and stay out of the way as much as possible. All right?" Christine nodded, her lips pressed together. "And the Vicomte de Changy has said he might stop by rehearsal today. I don't think I needed to warn you that Erik would not be happy for you to be involved with another man, am I right?"

Christine shook her head vehemently as her face lost all color. Reaching out and placing her hand on Christine's face, Antoinette tried to reassure her. "I'm sure it will be fine. We'll find a way out of this." Antoinette leaned over and gave Christine a small kiss on the forehead. "Now go. I'll see you later."

With a wan smile Christine left the office. Glancing at her watch she realized if she didn't hurry she would be late for rehearsal. She had just turned the corner near Piangi's dressing room when she (literally) ran into the one person she shouldn't be around – Raoul de Changy.


	13. Chapter 13

_I know it has been a long time since my last update. All I can say is that there have been some family medical issues and I'm trying to finish a Master's degree. Life got a little crazy on me. _

Chapter 13

"Christine!" Raoul exclaimed happily, reaching out to give her a hug. "I was so worried when I returned to you dressing room and you were gone. Why didn't you tell me you wanted to visit your father's grave? I would have gone with you, or at least called ahead and told the staff to open up our house there for you."

"Well, I just really wanted to be by myself Raoul. I'm sure you understand," Christine explained awkwardly.

"Of course. I should have realized. I was just so glad to see you again that I'm afraid all other concerns were ignored. Forgive me?" Raoul asked giving her the 'wounded puppy look' that he had perfected when they were young.

Christine found herself smiling despite herself and her worries that the Phantom, Erik she mentally corrected herself, was watching. "Of course I forgive you," she said as she gently swatted his shoulder. Unfortunately she used her right hand – the hand with Erik's ring. And the glint of the lights off the polished metal caught Raoul's eye.

"What's this," Raoul asked curiously as he held her hand to examine the ring. "It almost looks like a wedding ring, except on the other hand."

Christine thought furiously as she yanked her hand back. "Well, that's, umm, because it is a umm wedding ring. It was my . . . mother's. Papa asked Aunt Antoinette to give it to me when the time was right and she felt that my debut as an opera singer was the right time I guess," Christine trailed off and inwardly praying that her father and her mother would forgive that lie.

"That's wonderful. Now I really understand why you felt the need to visit your father's grave. I'm sorry I tried to pressure you into dinner. I didn't realize." Raoul said.

"It's okay," Christine replied softly as she gently touched his arm. "You didn't know and under other circumstances it would have been different."

Raoul stepped closer to her. "Different circumstances hmm? Well, how about these different circumstances? We do have a long time to catch up on. Please?"

Caught up in the moment Christine opened her mouth to say 'yes' when she remembered Erik. Forcing a polite smile on her face Christine replied, "As much as I would love that, I already promised Meg and Aunt Antoinette I would have dinner with them. I've been gone and so we need to have a family dinner. Oops. And I'm going to be late to rehearsal so I've got to go. I'll see you later!" With that Christine quickly moved around Raoul and walked briskly away. Her heart was pounding with worry that he would try to follow her, something she knew Erik wouldn't like.

As she hurried through the hallways of the opera house Christine silently cursed her life and the fact that she had to base her actions now on whether or not a crazy deformed man would approve or not. She had worked herself into a very bad mood by the time she reached rehearsal. It was a mood that was not helped by the glares being sent her way by Carlotta, Piangi and their entourages. While Christine made sure to smile sweetly at Carlotta and Piangi, she sent looks that could burn through iron towards their people.

Looking over the heads of the entourage Christine saw Meg standing with the rest of the corps de ballet. With a smile she waved at them. When Msr. Reyer called for the start of the rehearsal Christine sighed and tried to focus. Even though the role of the pageboy had no vocal parts she still needed to pay attention to the blocking. For the next few hours she made herself forget how she had gotten the role and exerted all of her energy into making sure she was able to play the role to the best of her ability.

When the rehearsal finally ended, Christine made her way to Antoinette's office again, figuring to wait there until she and Meg changed so they could walk home together. She felt her heart skip a beat when she saw a white envelope taped to the door, her name written in red ink on the front. With trembling hand she slowly opened the envelope and slid out the note.

_My dear Christine,_

_I must compliment you on your handling of the boy this afternoon. I trust that you will continue to maintain your distance from him? You were also marvelous in rehearsal today. Unfortunately not in the role that you deserve. But do not __worry;__ your Erik will remedy the situation. _

_We shall resume our lessons tomorrow night at 8:00 pm in the chapel as always. I expect you to have the opening aria for the Countess prepared. Until then,_

_I remain your obedient servant._

_Erik_

As she read, and re-read, the note Christine felt her stomach begin to churn. She knew that Erik's remedy for her casting would not be a pleasant situation. She could only pray that it would not involve permanent damage to someone or the opera house.

She jumped when she felt a hand rest itself upon her shoulder. Whirling around, she found Antoinette staring at her.

"You're white as a sheet Christine!" Antoinette exclaimed, looking at her worriedly. "Did something happen? Carlotta didn't do anything did she? I swear that woman is a viper and I would love to be able to"

"No!" Christine interrupted forcefully. "It isn't Carlotta. It's . . ." and she wordlessly held out the letter. Antoinette read through the letter wordlessly and then crumpled it up, her face white with anger. She was on the verge of speaking when Meg rounded the corner. Meg pulled up short when she saw Christine and Antoinette's faces.

"Did someone die or something?" she asked worriedly.

"No, of course not," Antoinette said with forced brightness. "I was just telling Christine how much work there is to be done with ballet. I think half of the girls didn't practice at all during the break."

"You are probably right _maman_," Meg agreed as she linked arms with Christine and the three of them began to head towards the exit. "But you will have them back in shape soon. You always do. I, however, am more concerned with the fact that Christine's _V__icomte_ was not at rehearsal today. I was sure he would watch you rehearse today and possibly even take you to dinner. Especially since La Sorelli saw him backstage earlier."

"He's not my _Vicomte_," Christine protested, "We're friends, that's all. Unlike you, not every guy falls in love with me."

"True, although speaking of falling in love, did you see the new oboist in the pit? He's absolutely gorgeous!" Heaving an inward sigh of relief that she had distracted Meg from the topic of Raoul, Christine let herself get swept away in Meg's chatter about every young, attractive male within the opera house.

Later that night Christine slipped back to the opera house for her lesson with Erik. Despite his pervasive influence in her life Christine found a part of herself looking forward to her lesson. She had always enjoyed singing and these lessons had always been a way to lose herself in music while feeling close to her father. Even knowing what she knew now could not totally diminish the joy singing held for her.

She was surprised at how well the lesson went. Aside from her using his name rather than calling him Angel, the lesson was very much like her previous ones had been. There was no mention of her debut or the events that had followed it. Christine found herself relaxing and enjoying herself as the evening went on. And had it not been for the parting admonition to stay away from Raoul she could have almost forgotten the truth behind the situation.

That day seemed to set a pattern for her life. Following rehearsal Christine would return home and relax until heading back to the opera house for her lesson with Erik. There Erik would run her through the same material that had been covered in rehearsal, except this time having Christine perform the role of the Countess. Raoul had been absent on a business trip and so Christine didn't even have to worry about avoiding him. And as time moved on she began to worry less and less about Erik's promise to remedy the casting situation. She was even looking forward to opening night and her first performance as a member of the cast rather than a last minute replacement for a temperamental diva. However, she remained concerned that Erik would pull another trick like he did during Hannibal and so she and Antoinette remained vigilant in watching for possible sabotage around the opera house. Even though they both knew that they had little chance of stopping anything Erik had planned. What Erik wanted, he tended to get.


	14. Chapter 14

_Author's note: A huge thank you to pen name 55 for a very encouraging review. It was __much__ appreciated._

Chapter 14

Opening night of _Il Muto_ found Christine Daae in a very familiar spot – at the barre used by the corps de ballet for warm ups. She forced herself to ignore the odd looks she was getting, after all as a cast member she really shouldn't be there. And of course being dressed as the Pageboy dressed as a girl was helping her blend in either. Finally Meg decided to take matters into her own hands. Breaking off her own routine she went over and tapped Christine on the shoulder.

"Christine," she began, "You do know that you're not in the ballet any more and thus shouldn't be here? Right?"

Sighing Christine stopped her movements and turned to face Meg. "Yes, I know I'm not in the ballet anymore. But I needed something to help me relax," Christine said giving a slight shrug of her shoulders. "I never got nervous before a performance when I was a dancer so I thought this might help."

Meg began to giggle but quickly stifled it when she saw a flush rise to Christine's cheeks. "You are nervous? How can you be nervous? You took over the lead role in an opera the day of the performance and you weren't nervous at all. And now you're nervous about a role that you've rehearsed many times and don't even have to make a sound?"

Christine playfully swatted Meg, giving a wry grin. "I was so busy trying to remember blocking and the libretto that I didn't have time to be nervous then. Now I've had far too much time to think about every little thing that could go wrong. What if I trip? Or miss a cue? What if I'm just bad, Meg?"

Gently Meg drew Christine away from everyone else and into the dressing room area. "Christine, you are going to be fantastic. You know your blocking backwards and forwards, you've had too much dance training to trip when you are paying attention to where you're going, and your acting as well as your singing impressed everyone when you were Elissa so stop, take a deep breath and then stop taking up space in the warm up area. Got it?"

"Got it," Christine said shooting a mocking salute towards Meg. When Meg reached out to hug her, she returned the embrace happily. "I'll see you on stage for the first act. Now go get warmed up." With a smile Meg left Christine and hurried back to where the rest of the ballerinas were waiting. Once she was out of sight, Christine took a deep breath, murmured a quick prayer and then headed off to where the cast was warming up their vocal cords. Since she didn't actually sing in this opera she technically didn't need to be there. But singing might help keep the nerves at bay as well as keep her voice in shape for that day when she actually did have a chance to sing in a performance.

As the first act was reaching its end Christine felt herself begin to relax and enjoy herself. She hadn't made any mistakes and was beginning to feel confident on the stage. She smiled inwardly at the reaction from the audience as she as the Pageboy ripped off the maid disguise to reveal the royal blue breeches and loose white shirt underneath. As she leaned it for the 'kiss' from Carlotta's Countess she felt her heart drop into her stomach when a familiar voice rang through the hall,

"Did I not instruct that Box 5 should be kept empty?"

"It's him," Christine whispered to herself as she felt Meg grab hold of her arm. Sparing a glance at her Christine saw Meg's face was as white as her own probably was.

"You're part is silent, little toad," Carlotta hissed at her. Inwardly Christine began hoping with every molecule of her being that Erik hadn't heard that comment.

"Perhaps, Madame, it is you who are the toad," the voice called mockingly as Christine winced knowing that nothing good could come of this. Carlotta opened her mouth to retort but realizing that this was one battle she wasn't going to win, contented herself with just muttering on her breath in Italian for a few moments. Then with a glaringly fake smile directed at the audience she turned to address the conductor.

"Maestro, del capo por favore," she said mincing back towards Christine. Dramatically she struck a pose as the music started. "Serafimo, away with this pretense!" she sang. "You cannot speak but kiss me in my husband's ab-CROAK." At the croak the audience tittered and even Christine was hard pressed to maintain a straight face. Her lips pressed together in thinly concealed anger, Carlotta tried again, motioning the conductor to continue. "Poor fool he makes me laugh, ha ha ha ha ha, ha ha ha ha ha ha CROAK. CROAK. CROAK. CROAK." As the audience roared in laughter Carlotta ran from the stage, the bright lights causing the gold embroidery on her silver dress to sparkle as she moved.

Andre and Firmin quickly rushed down to the stage and called for the curtains to be closed. Christine could hear them whispering urgently about what they were going to do. Because her paranoia wouldn't permit a rival, Carlotta had no understudy. And if drawing a parallel between tonight and the opening of _Hannibal_, both men turned towards where Christine was talking with Meg.

"Do you know the role of the Countess Mlle. Daae?" Firmin demanded. Startled Christine just stared at him for a moment. "Well, can you?"

"Yes, yes I do," Christine stammered.

"Good," Firmin stated nodding his head. Grabbing her hand he dragged her out in front of the curtains. "Ladies and gentlemen," he called out. "We apologize for the inconvenience. Signora Giudicelli has become ill. The performance will continue in just a few moments. But until then we shall present to you the ballet from Act III of tonight's opera. Thank you." With those words Firmin pushed Christine in front of him as they went back behind the curtains. Ignoring Andre's stammering words of praise Firmin gave Christine a small shove towards Antoinette who had come to see what she could do to help. "Mme. Giry, help our Mlle. Daae dress once Carlotta has removed the costume. And for God's sake hurry."

With a brief nod to acknowledge his words Antoinette hurried Christine back to the dressing room. As they neared it they passed a sobbing Carlotta being embraced by Piangi who was frantically trying to calm her. Upon reaching the dressing room, Antoinette and Christine found the Countess costume lying in a heap on the floor. Reaching down Antoinette picked the dress up and carefully laid it on the vanity in the room.

Turning to Christine she said, "All right, we'd better get you changed. Here is the under dress, this needs to go on first." Taking the garment Christine moved behind the dressing screen and began changing.

"You know this was Erik's doing," she called to Antoinette.

"I know. But right now there really isn't anything that can be done about it and if we don't want to make him and our bosses upset we need to get you dressed and on stage."

"You're right," Christine said emerging from behind the screen wearing the simple white dress with a square neck and tight elbow length sleeves. It served to help the dress lay well and well as fill out the skirt slightly. Antoinette moved towards her with the rest of the costume. Christine lifted her head so that Antoinette could drop the dress over her head. She leaned on the vanity as Antoinette began to fasten the back of the dress. She bowed her head, mentally running through the rest of the opera. Then she noticed the single rose, a black ribbon tied around its stem, lying on the floor underneath it. Ignoring Antoinette's protests Christine reached down to pick it up, holding it with her fingertips as she held it before her.

Christine was trying to figure out what message Erik was trying to send her when she heard screaming coming from the stage. With fear pulsing through her veins Christine sprinted towards the stage only to be met by the site of Joseph Buquet's body hanging from the flies directly above the middle of the stage. Stifling a scream she let instinct take over and began a mad flight through the backstage area, cursing the large skirt that hampered her progress. As she neared the passages that led to the lobby area Christine spotted Raoul running towards her.

"Christine!" he exclaimed in relief. Grasping her arms he hurriedly looked her over. "Are you okay? I was so worried when I saw the body."

"I'm fine Raoul," Christine said feeling slightly out of breath. She knew that she should get away from Raoul, for his safety and hers but she also knew that she with him was the only place she wanted to be right now. Making a decision she grabbed his hand and began to lead him away. "We can't talk here," she insisted. "It's not safe. Follow me to the roof; he won't be able to watch us there."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Clinging to Raoul's hand Christine hurried through the backstage area of the opera house. She was sure Raoul was concerned for her state of mind given her behavior but every part of her was screaming at her to get someplace safe. She knew that her dressing room and home were under Erik's surveillance. The entire opera house most likely was. The only place she could think of was the roof. It was very open, with no where to conceal any sort of surveillance equipment. And since almost no one went up there, no reason for surveillance. She felt Raoul gently tugging at her arm trying to get her to stop and talk to him or at least slow down.

"Christine," he exclaimed. "Please, tell me what's going on."

Without slowing her pace Christine answered, "I will Raoul. I promise. Just as soon as we get to the roof, I'll tell you everything." By this time they had reached the rickety spiral staircase that led to the upper reaches. Any further pleas from Raoul were contained as he tried to keep up with Christine's panicked pace. When they reached the door to the rooftop Christine let go of Raoul's hand for the first time in order to open the door and let him pass by her. Walking onto the roof she closed the door behind her and began examining every part of the rooftop.

After a few minutes of watching this Raoul went over to Christine and gently took hold of her hands in order to force her to stop and look at him. "Christine," he said gently. "You're starting to scare me. This seems like more than just a reaction to what happened to Joseph Buquet tonight. You've been acting distant ever since you got back from visiting your father's grave. Please tell me what's wrong. Tell me if _I _did something wrong."

"Raoul no. You did absolutely nothing wrong." Christine stated forcefully. "This is all my fault. And now that I'm faced with telling you I don't know where to start. Plus, part of me is saying you won't believe me even when I do tell you."

"I swear that no matter what I will believe you Christine," Raoul said seriously as he looked into her eyes trying to telegraph his sincerity. "As to where to start, your father always said 'the best place to start is always the beginning'."

Christine gave Raoul a wan smile. Taking a deep breath she said, "All right. This actually started with my father. Or rather, right before he died. He promised me that he would send me an Angel of Music to watch over me. Looking at that promise now I should have known that he didn't mean it literally, or that he just wanted to comfort me. But I was seven! And he promised me. My daddy promised me that he would do that Raoul."

"It's all right. I understand how you could believe that," Raoul said reassuringly. "I probably would have done the same thing."

"Yeah, but you probably wouldn't have fallen for someone pretending to be it," Christine responded bitterly.

"What?" Raoul exclaimed.

"When I first came to live with Aunt Antoinette and Meg I would lonely. Sometimes when I really missed Papa I would go to the opera house chapel to light a candle for him. It was quiet and pretty with all the stained glass and I could pretend that I was in my own fairy world. And then one night I heard this beautiful voice singing. And not just singing any song but the lullaby my father sang," Christine said in a rush. "He told me that he was the Angel of Music my father promised me and that if I was very good and did everything he told me to that I could be the star my papa wanted me to be. So I did. Every chance I got I'd go to the chapel. First he would just sing to me or listen to me talk about what was happening in my life. And his voice is something you wouldn't believe Raoul. It could make you feel that you were God incarnate, or the worst sinner in the world and everything in between. Then he started giving me singing lessons. And it just became part of my life and I didn't even think about it being abnormal. I just felt lucky to have such a special teacher. Especially since Aunt Antoinette never said anything against it."

"Madame Giry knew about this?" Raoul interjected angrily.

"I'm getting to that," Christine promised. "Like I said, it just seemed part of my life. And then after performing in _Faust_, life just seemed wonderful. You were there, my angel was pleased with me and I had the chance of a singing career. I changed clothes and then lights went off. And my angel told me to look in the mirror. I remember that all I could see was this light in the mirror and then I heard you calling for me. And then the mirror opened and there was a man there. I fainted. And when I came too I was in a strange room in this underground house with a masked psycho named Erik who had been pretending to be the Angel of Music my father promised." Christine choked back a sob. "He kept there Raoul and I wasn't sure I'd ever be able to get away. Especially after I took his mask off. The sight of that face still haunts me and he got so angry. And when he finally brought me back to my dressing room I found out that Aunt Antoinette knew about him. I was furious with her until I found out that he's been threatening her to keep the secret. One time he stopped her paycheck until she complied. And since then I've been trying to go about my life without making him angry and try to find someway to get away. But he knows everything I do Raoul. Somehow he can watch me. And so I pushed you away so he wouldn't hurt you."

With this Raoul turned and walked a few steps, running a hand through his hair.

"Please say you believe me," Christine pleaded taking a step after him.

Turning back to her Raoul smiled ruefully. "I don't want to. This story seems crazy and, I admit, that it scares me a bit. But I know that you wouldn't lie and it does explain all those stories about the Opera Ghost. So I really have no choice but to believe you."

Relieved Christine threw herself into Raoul's arm and wrapped her arms around his torso. "Thank you," she whispered with tears of relief in her eyes.

Raoul pulled away slightly and raised her chin to look him in the eyes. "We'll find a way to stop this Christine. Somehow we'll stop Erik and you won't have to look over your shoulder any more." Nodding Christine buried her face in Raoul's chest again. "But it might be better if you left Paris for awhile. There have to be a number of conservatories or opera companies that would die to have someone of your talent join their ranks. And the further away you are the safe you'll be."

"I can't," Christine stated with a note of panic in her voice. "If I leave he'll just go after Aunt Antoinette and Meg, and maybe even everyone else here. I can't put them at risk to save myself. And I don't want to live constantly looking over my shoulder and waiting for him to appear. I need to fight him here, Raoul."

"All right," Raoul sighed. "But I want you to be careful. I'll start having some people look into this and until I find something out I don't want you to risk doing anything that will upset this Erik and put you in danger. I don't know what I would do if you were hurt."

"Then you need to be careful too," Christine said poking him in the chest. "It was bad enough when you stopped writing, but if something happened to you I don't think I could ever forgive myself."

"You stopped writing to me!" Raoul exclaimed indignantly. "I wrote you once a week for two years and you stopped writing back after just a few months."

"But the letters never arrived," Christine protested. Then she sighed. "Erik must have intercepted them."

"I like him less and less," Raoul commented dryly.

Christine laughed. "I know. Although some part of me feels sorry for him. I can't imagine having to live with a mask all the time. There looked like there were surgical scars there which had to have been painful. It doesn't make me any less angry at what he's done to me, but part of me feels very sorry for him."

Raoul was silent for a moment. Then he pressed a gentle kiss to Christine's head. "I love your heart Christine. You can always see good in people," he told her. At this Christine lifted up her head and hesitantly kissed Raoul. He deepened the kiss and lifted her up, spinning them both around in a circle. When he placed her feet back on the floor Christine's cheeks were full of color and her eyes sparkled.

Then Christine realized that people were probably looking for her. "Raoul, we've got to get back before people start panicking about where we are."

"You're right. And more importantly, before Erik realizes where you've been," Raoul agreed his face darkening as he thought of the danger the masked man posed to Christine.

Seeing the look on his face Christine gave him one more kiss before they left.

Unfortunately, they were too involved with each other to notice the small ping that came when a certain gold ring hitting the ground.


	16. Chapter 16

_Author's note: First of all, I apologize for the very long delay between chapters. Life got complicated and I'll leave it at that. This is a very short chapter but I felt that this needed to stand on its own. I'm planning on having the next chapter (which will be longer) up by the end of the week since I finished a couple of very important things last week and have a little more free time._

He knew.

He knew as soon as he saw her return to the backstage. And every suspicion he had was confirmed when she made her entrance onto the stage. There was a radiance about her that he had never seen before. Her mouth seemed like it was just ready to break into a contented smile and her eyes sparkled. And no matter how much she tried to resist those same eyes that kept flickering to that boy sitting in Box Five. No one else would notice because no one else was focused solely on her.

He didn't know exactly what had happened. She had fled to one of the few places he didn't have some sort of surveillance equipment installed but he knew generally what had happened. She had given her heart away to someone else. And now his heart was breaking. He could almost forgive the boy. After all, how could anyone not fall in love with such an angel as Christine? It was not the love that was wrong but rather the acting upon it and stealing the affections of Christine away. Every glance of adoration that Christine focused on the Vicomte should have been focused on him. He was the one who had protected her, nurtured her, and arranged for her to share her talents with the world. The Vicomte had done nothing for her and yet he was the one she turned to.

She was at least partly to blame. He had given her everything – her Angel of Music, her voice, the start of a promising career, his music and his heart. But she had rejected it -rejected _him_. The bleakness of a life without her caused a shudder of fear to run through his body. After the few days of having her with him in his home, even the prospect of being merely her tutor again (that is, if she would even continue to consent to lessons) was like being stuck with Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys after hearing Beethoven and Bach. It was unthinkable and unbearable.

Later that night, the theater had been deserted by its employees and its guests, Erik crept up to the roof of the opera house. Lying there, perfectly illuminated by the moonlight, was the ring he had given Christine. It seemed to Erik that the world was silently mocking his hopes and dreams with that perfect tableau. Feeling far older than his years he knelt down and picked it up, the cold metal slowly began to warm as it sucked the heat from his hand. He stayed there a long time trying to regain control of his feelings. Anger and despair roiled inside of him focusing his thoughts on only one goal – getting Christine back. Whether it was to win her affections or merely seek revenge against her, he could not have said.

It simply wasn't fair was the constant refrain running through his head. He had done nothing to deserve his face and now it seemed that he would lose the most precious thing in his life because of it while that spoiled, selfish boy who had done nothing to deserve his good looks and wealth would be able to take that which he didn't deserve away from Erik. And Erik would not, could not stand for it. He had learned early that the world would destroy those who did not shape the world to their own needs and desires. And he would ensure now that the world marched to his order.

Now he had a goal in mind but he knew that it would not be easily accomplished. He needed to plan carefully but if he did so the rewards would be sweet. Not only would he be able to win back his beloved but he would be able to punish those who had defied him – everyone from his managers to that boy. If only they had done what he had told them to, none of this would be necessary. Instead of 

facing his wrath, all of them would be enjoying the fruits of their labor. Christine would be his and a successful singer, well on her way to being a star. The opera house would be drawing in the crowds to see her perform which would benefit the new managers and their simpering patron.

Instead they disregarded his explicit wishes and they are the ones who brought this upon themselves. And now they would truly see the Phantom who lurked in the shadows.


	17. Chapter 17

_Disclaimer: Don't own Phantom._

**Chapter 17**

For Christine, the six months following the disastrous performance of Il Muto were among the most exhilarating and the most stressful months of her life. On the surface it seemed like everything was going her way. She was in love, her career was moving forward (without any outside interventions) and, most importantly, Erik had effectively disappeared. For six months he had not sent a note, threatened anyone, created a disturbance or even summoned her for voice lesson. She should have been in a state of constant bliss.

But instead she worried. She couldn't let herself believe that everything was just going to work out. She was always looking in the shadows, trying to discern if she was being watched. Every time she arrived at rehearsal she was terrified some demand would arrive. If she saw Antoinette looking stressed she no longer assumed it was because the dancers weren't performing to her exacting standards but instead was because Erik was threatening her again. She worried every time she remembered that she had lost the ring Erik had given her. She had gone back to the roof the morning after the Il Muto performance, but it wasn't there. She had to accept that it was lost somewhere backstage and that she'd never see it again. How she would hide that from Erik, she didn't know.

Trying to keep things from Antoinette and Meg didn't make things any easier. She and Antoinette had settled into an unspoken pact not to mention Erik unless absolutely necessary. It was easier for both of them not to acknowledge the situation. And there was no way she would let Antoinette know about Raoul. It would only cause her more worry. Meg could tell something was wrong but was hesitant to risk causing a rift between her mother and her best friend. However, she wasn't above teasing Christine about Raoul, even though she was unaware of what had occurred on the roof.

Raoul was a problem. Their relationship had to be a secret and yet keeping it a secret was the last thing she wanted to do. It didn't help that it was especially hard when attempting to spend time with Raoul. She refused to even acknowledge him at the Opera Populaire for fear of Erik seeing them together. She was also too terrified to meet him anywhere else. She knew that she had always been a home body – largely because of Angel's admonitions that she needed to devote herself to her lessons - so she had no ready made excuse to be away from home for extend amounts of time during the day. Christine worried that if she suddenly started spending time away from home Erik would get suspicious and follow her.

And so saying it was difficult to find time together was putting it mildly. It was Raoul who finally found a solution. One day as Christine was walking back from getting a drink during a break in rehearsal she saw him walking down the hallway with the managers. As the three men passed her, Raoul managed to bump into her and subsequently drop a large stack of papers. As they both dropped to the floor to pick them up Raoul said under his breath, "the roof" and then without a backwards glance walked off.

With a pounding heart and a grin threatening to break out over her face Christine struggled to make it through the rest of rehearsal. Forcing herself to be calm and cautious she made small talk with her the rest of the cast as she gathered her things together. As they walked to the door she claimed to have forgotten something backstage and rushed away. She then raced up the stairs to the roof. When she opened the door Raoul was sitting on the roof with his back leaning against one of the domed skylights examining a pile of papers. With the jacket of his navy suit hanging open and his bent legs showing more than a little of his socks, it was a humorous sight.

Raoul looked up when he heard the door shut. Christine's heart skipped a beat as she saw how his face lit up when he saw her. He hastily shoved the papers into his briefcase and they met in the middle of the roof. When they were finally standing in front of each other they both felt suddenly shy and awkward.

"Hi," Christine whispered with a small smile.

"Hi," Raoul replied hesitantly lifting his hand to her cheek. As he caressed her face Christine felt all her reserve melt away. She slipped her arms around his waist and rested her head against his chest. She felt Raoul press a gentle kiss on the top of her head. "I take it that you missed me then?" he asked jokingly.

"You know I did," Christine responded, lifting her face up to give him a quick kiss. "I have to admit this was a brilliant place to meet."

"I figured if you felt it safe enough to reveal your deepest, darkest secrets that night it should be safe enough for a little while again."

"Just a little while though," Christine signed. "Aunt Antoinette and Meg will likely be wondering where I am."

"I know. But I just wanted to see you again. And let you know that I have someone trying to find out more about your mysterious Erik."

Christine pulled away slightly. "Are you sure that's safe Raoul," she asked worriedly. "I don't want anyone else getting hurt because of this."

"I know. Right now the guy is just looking into documentation about the opera house and people associated with it. It's all very hands off and I've stressed that he needs to cover his tracks. He'll be fine."

"Just make sure he's careful, all right?" Christine pleaded.

"I will." Raoul promised.

"Thank you," Christine murmured. Then, looking at her watch, she sighed, "It's getting late. I really should get going."

"I know," Raoul replied. "I have another meeting with Firmin and Andre on Friday, same time. Could you meet here then?"

"I think so," Christine said hesitantly. "Stop by rehearsal. I'll wear a blue shirt if I can come."

"Then hopefully it's a date," Raoul said. Then after a pause, "I love you, you know."

"I know," Christine said softly. "I love you too." And after a brief kiss she turned and hurried back to the door and down to the opera house.

For months these stolen moments were all that they were willing to attempt. Especially as the investigation into the mysterious Phantom was unable to find any potential clues as to Erik's identity or whereabouts. There were no known people with a grudge against the opera house. Aside from the incidents the Phantom had caused, there had never been any serious accidents much less any that left an employee hideously disfigured. The opera company had been through multiple owners during the Phantom's reign and the opera house itself was run by a charitable trust that had been outlined in the will of the former owner. He had died over a decade ago so there was little likelihood someone was attempting to get even with the owner. Without more information both Christine and Raoul were loathe to attempt finding the house on a lake Christine remembered from her time with the Phantom. The fact that the architectural plans and other records from when the building were constructed had been destroyed during various armed conflicts made the prospect of wandering around the bowels of the Opera House even less attractive.

However, as time went on Christine let herself be persuaded to meet Raoul outside of the opera house, despite her fears. They would meet for breakfast or take a walk during the lunch hour. Quick things that could be done together but also try to stay away from very public places that could give rise to rumors that could get back to Erik. While she still spent a large amount of time peering into shadows and over her shoulder Christine started to let herself believe that maybe things could work out.

And so when Raoul finally proposed to her six months, almost to the day, after the Il Muto performance she was willing to put aside her fears and accept.

It had started like so many of their meetings. A quick glance and after rehearsal she had slipped up to the roof to meet him. Instead of finding him working as he waited for her she got there to find a stereotypical romantic picnic dinner set up for them – complete with flowers and champagne. As she settled herself on the navy wool blanket spread on the roof Christine gave into her curiosity and asked, "What's the occasion? I didn't miss a birthday or something, did I?"

"No," said Raoul with a laugh. "I just wanted to make this special." Then his face became very serious. Reaching into the open picnic basket he brought out a black velvet necklace jewelry case and held it out to Christine. She felt her heart begin to race as she reached out and took the box. She opened the box and tore her eyes from Raoul's intent gaze.

Nestled in a bed of white satin was a delicate gold chain. Hanging on the chain was a stunning ring. A large princess cut diamond surrounded by ring of smaller, similarly cut diamonds, was set in golden band. Christine stared numbly at the jewelry in her hands. Seeing her reaction Raoul hesitantly took the box back and lifting the ring out he let the chain dangle.

"Christine, when we were young, you were my best friend and all the years we were apart I always missed how I could tell you anything. And now to find that even after all these years that you are even more wonderful than I remembered I know I would be insane to risk losing you. I love you and I know that we face problems that most people don't and all I want is to have you in my life. Will you marry me?"

"Really?" Christine asked in disbelief. "You want to marry me? Creepy, murdering stalker and all?"

"Well, I'm hoping we can get rid of the creepy, murdering stalker soon, but, yes, even with that I can't imagine losing you again. You are worth any price."

For a moment Christine stared into his eyes and tried to see any deception or hesitation. When all she saw was adoration she gave the answer she desperately wanted to give, "Yes. Yes, I will marry you."

At that Raoul gently slid the ring onto her finger and then drew her head to his and gave her a long, lingering kiss.

A few seconds after it ended Christine managed to regain enough of her wits to ask, as she admired the ring, "What is the chain for?

"Simple," Raoul replied. "I figured you wouldn't be comfortable wearing it in front of everyone so I thought with a chain you could still wear it but hide it under your clothes so no one would notice."

"Very smart," Christine said placing a kiss on his lips. With a sigh she drew the ring from her finger and slipped the chain over her head, tucking the ring under her lavender sweater. "This is where it should stay for awhile. But it can't stay there forever. Eventually someone will see it and ask questions. What do we do then?"

"I guess we'll just have to make the relationship a little more permanent sooner rather than later." Raoul said. "As my wife I could protect you, along with Antoinette and Meg, easier just by having you live with me rather than at your apartment. That would mean eloping though. Would you be okay with no big wedding?"

"All I care about is when and where," Christine replied earnestly. "I never dreamed of the huge fairytale wedding. I don't care about it at all."

"What about after the New Year's Masquerade?" Raoul suggested. "There is a break for the company afterwards so we could even have a little honeymoon before rehearsals start again. I can make all the arrangements as if it is a business trip so no one will know before hand."

"It sounds perfect," Christine responded leaning in for a kiss.

And with their plan set they spent the rest of the evening talking and imagining their life together. They were unaware that their sanctuary was no longer safe. Despite their precautions to never be seen entering or leaving the roof together, it was easy to determine what was going on when you spent your life observing people's behavior. Christine and Raoul's behavior had been painfully obvious to someone who was determined to keep them apart and so for quite some time their interactions on the roof had been observed. This turn of events caused rivers of pain and hatred to run through Erik's veins and resulted in the final pieces of his plan to fall into place.


End file.
